Conqueror
by LuigiWife1551
Summary: After having a rather disturbing nightmare during a sleepover and realizing he couldn't hide it from his friends any longer, one pup learns that in order to deal with something that scared him, he has to come to grips with the fact that it happened. It's a good thing he's part of the PAW Patrol, and they have no intention on letting him handling this big mission alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello all! I'm back with a new PAW Patrol story! This is going to be (hopefully) a fairly long-ish two shot (originally supposed to be a one shot; see below AN for more info.)**

 **I hope you enjoy! I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

 **Conqueror**

 **Chapter 1**

The day started off innocently enough. Ryder felt the pups had earned a long overdue break from rescuing people after such a long three weeks of work. He asked Jake if Everest wanted to come over and spend the night. The young man readily agreed- he needed some peace and quiet from the business of the Ski Lodge, and Everest hadn't seen the others in quite the while.

Tracker and Carlos were visiting for a few days as well, Carlos wanting to come see the Adventure Bay Historical Museum and see for himself where the treasures he'd been digging up back in the jungle were now being displayed. Naturally, he also agreed to have Tracker come over and spend the night with the other pups- he never had a proper introduction to their mountain rescue pup, and he really missed seeing his amigos.

As for Ryder, he truly didn't see any trouble with it; if he were honest, he was excited about it himself. It meant there were other humans- other males, specifically- he could finally catch up and talk to.

The sleepover was held at the Lookout, with the pups all camping out on the main floor, and Jake, Carlos and Ryder on the top floor. After a check to make sure no one needed rescuing, and everything was secure and locked up for the night, it was time for the eight pups and three humans to finally unwind.

Of course, thunderstorms were popular in Adventure Bay, especially unexpected ones. So it was no shocker when Cap'n Turbot called Ryder, freaking out about a really dark thundercloud rolling in. Carlos and Jake looked out the window and confirmed what the captain warned them about, and all three males decided to call the pups in early.

Ryder had all the pups come inside around 8:30pm, warning them about the storm and letting them know they had to stay inside. To pass the time, they watched Apollo the Super Pup (all 12 episodes since Tracker had never heard or seen the show before). Afterwards, they laid out their pillows, snuggled under their unique blankets and told rescue stories with one another.

"Alright pups, I'm heading up with Carlos and Jake. Don't stay up too late, alright?" Ryder announced as he checked his pups one last time to make sure all was well. A sudden thunderclap startled all the pups but Everest, who was looking outside with interest, and Chase, who was busy getting his pillow ready for bed.

"Wow, it's really pouring rain out there! It's weird, it was nice just a minute ago!" Everest shrugged her shoulders and joined the others, plopping on top of her unique teal colored blanket. "Guess it's a good thing we didn't have to do any rescues tonight, huh?"

Rocky was cowered under his green blanket, his head poking out and staring outside with obvious fear. "Y-Yeah... g-good thing, all right..." he stuttered before another thunderclap caused him to jump in fright. He landed right on top of Zuma, who was half-way close to dozing off.

"Heh heh... uh, sorry, Zuma." Rocky sheepishly apologized as he rolled off the chocolate pup. Zuma gave a half sleepy grin before he curled in his orange blanket and let out a yawn.

"No worries, Wocky dude." he mumbled. "Mhmm… n'ght…"

Ryder laughed a little, as did the others, before he gave each pup a reassuring pat on their heads. "We're just an elevator ride away if you need anything, okay? Good night pups!"

"Good night, Ryder!" they called. After Ryder went up with the other two, the pups wondered what to talk about next. Another thunderclap startled them again, adding with it flickering lights as the strong winds rocked the Lookout Tower. Tracker yelped and hid under his dark green blanket, shaking like a leaf.

"Oy yoy yoy… odio la oscuridad! Es tan aterrador! I hate the dark! It's so scary!" he whimpered. Rocky nodded in agreement, and when another thunderclap came and went, the two pups huddled closer together.

"Y-You can say that again, Tracker!" Rocky hated water in general, but this was a whole new level of freaky. "W-We've never h-had storms this weird before!"

As another thunderclap passed through and caused some of the younger pups to whimper in fear, Rubble noticed Zuma hadn't made a sound or moved even a little. It was like the pup couldn't hear anything, he was that deep in his sleep.

"Man, Zuma's SO lucky!" Rubble commented, laying down on his pillow and adjusting his sleeping mask on top his head. Chase, who finally had his pillow fluffed the way he liked it, pushed it a little closer to the elevator before tugging his blanket to join the others, occupying half of Marshall's pillow for the time being.

"What do you mean?" the police pup asked. Rubble looked outside then back at Zuma.

"He's not afraid of ANYTHING! That pup can sleep like a log!" The other pups had to agree on that- in all the time Zuma had been with the PAW Patrol, he had never once voiced his fears about anything. Or woke up from anything. Unlike the others...

"Yeah... he sure is lucky... " Rocky mumbled to himself, pulling his blanket closer to him. He was glad no one could hear his comment. Skye looked at Rocky.

"Wait, Rocky? Aren't you and Zuma really close friends?" she wondered.

Rocky nodded slowly. "Yeah...?"

"And you're telling me Zuma never EVER told you not one time about a fear he had?" She asked curiously, arching an eyebrow. Rocky whimpered as yet another thunderclap passed, before he started to muse on the question at hand.

"N-No... well, honestly, we never talked about it. I mean, I think everyone knows I can't stand water-"

"Rocky, we can sometimes SMELL that!" Marshall chimed in. Everyone got a laugh out of that one.

Another silence fell upon the pups as they ran out of things to discuss. Other than the occasional whimpers from some of the frightened pups, no one knew what to talk about.

Until Tracker noticed that Everest was frowning, as if something was bothering her. "Senorita? Are you alright?" Tracker asked, catching the attention of the others.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, but... well, I don't know..."

"Don't know what, senorita?" Tracker asked, glad for the temporary distraction from the dark, freaky and loud thunderstorm. Everest tapped her chin in thought for a moment.

"Well, I don't think Zuma ISN'T afraid of anything..." Everest started thoughtfully. Finally, a conversation starter! The other pups looked for her to continue. She shrugged before getting comfortable on top her blanket.

"I'm just saying, maybe, just maybe, he hasn't found something to be afraid of, you know?" Everest suggested. "Everyone is afraid of something. Even Ryder and Jake and Carlos."

"You think so?" Rubble wondered.

"Remember the dentist issue? Ryder actually admitted he was scared of brussels sprouts!" Chase fondly recalled with a small laugh. Marshall shook his head and tugged his blanket so close to his face and body he almost suffocated himself.

"I can deal with those things. But heights, stage fright... none of those are great!" He kissed the ground and sighed happily. "Forget about flying, that's Skye's thing! Oh, ground! I will never let you go!"

Chase rolled his eyes and lightly bopped his best friend on the head. "You're so strange, dally."

Marshall looked sideways at him. "And YOU were scared of the dentist! Remember? That's really the only reason why Ryder told us about the brussels sprouts thing!" he said with a wide grin. Chase hit him a little harder this time, and once again, laughter filled the small area.

"Shut it, you."

The mention of fears had Tracker thinking- since he was pretty close with the PAW Patrol, and he trusted them fully, he decided to tell them his own little secret.

"Hmmm... well, now that you mention it, me and Carlos have had nightmares before, but I always thought it was because he's a ten year old who lives on his own and I was stranded in the jungle." Tracker pulled on his blanket a bit more and looked outside again, his ears flattering upon seeing the dark skies and hearing the loud winds and thunder.

"Las tormentas en la jungla no son nada comparadas con esto… the storms in the jungle are nothing compared to this!" he whimpered. He really, REALLY hated the darkness.

"We usually never have storms like this." Chase said. "It's just like Ryder said- the storm is just a freaky one. It'll pass by the time we wake up in the morning. Nothing to be afraid of!"

The pups looked at one another and more or less agreed. It still didn't ease Rubble's curiosity of their aqua rescue pup and what made him scared. As the other pups let out yawns and settled in for a good night's rest, Rubble wondered to himself, "It's always strange how much this pup can sleep and never hear anything! Or fear anything! Still... I wonder what Zuma's fear is..."

* * *

Later on that night, it was still pouring rain, but with howling, strong winds and the occasional thunderclap here or there. The pups finally wore themselves out with a LONG conversation about Apollo the Super Pup and other things before, despite the thunderstorm going on outside, they slowly dropped to sleep one by one.

Tracker, Rocky, Rubble and Marshall slept as close together as possible, since the sudden loud sounds scared them the most. Chase slept closest the elevator, in case anyone needed Ryder, Jake or Carlos. Everest and Skye slept next to each other in a separate pile, away from Marshall and Rubble's snoring.

Zuma was sleeping closest the four male pups, but still had some space to himself. Which was a good thing, because he was tossing and turning as if he were actually trapped in a nightmare of some sort.

"Nnrgh… n-no... W-Wocky… stop..." he mumbled in his sleep.

* * *

 ** _"H-Huh? What's going on? Whewe am I?"_**

 ** _The chocolate pup seemed to be wandering in a really huge, really bare piece of land. He had never seen that kind of land before, even with all the adventures he had been on. Water surrounded him on all sides, but something was very wrong._**

 ** _"Okay, maybe I just need to find Wyder and the others. I mean, dude, I'm dweaming… yeah, that's it..." Zuma closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down._**

 ** _"Okay... okay. I gotta go somewhewe… I guess this way?" He walked a few steps to his left, noticing the darkness swirling around above his head, but doing his best to pay it no heed._**

 ** _"It's just a dweam, it's just a dweam… I'll find my way out..." Zuma muttered to himself. "Or I'll wake up eventually..."_**

 ** _After a few minutes that seemed like a lifetime, he realized that his paws were getting wet._** ** _Glancing down, Zuma noticed there was red on his paws. It make him a bit nauseous, but he swallowed it back._**

 ** _"M-Must be chewwy pie awound here or something...maybe I'm dweaming about pie?" Laughing nervously, Zuma tried to wipe it off against whatever he'd been walking on, but it wasn't coming off._**

 ** _"Ewwww, this is totally gross, dude! Gotta be some way to get this off..."_**

 ** _Then a thought came to him. "Wait! Duhhh, this place is totally surrounded by water! I can wash it off!" Darting to the edge of... wherever he was, Zuma leaned forward to see what was in the body of murky water, and to try and clean his paws off._**

 ** _What stared back at him was Rocky's head, missing his left eye and grinning rather creepily._**

* * *

Everest opened an eye. She wasn't crazy; she heard something...

Another small sound. Her ears were on alert. There was no one anyone could get into the Lookout- this thing was sealed up tight! Unless...

Everest heard it again, clearly this time. It sounded soft and close. She squinted, looking hard at each of the pups.

Tracker, Marshall, Rubble and Rocky were snoring and tangled with one another... even though they were the most afraid of the storm, they were sleeping as if nothing was wrong. She glanced down. Skye twitched a little, but was still asleep. Glancing toward the elevator, Chase was sleeping as well, as easy as any other time she'd seen him.

"What was that...?" She frowned, then laid back down to try and ignore the sound and go back to sleep- when it happened again.

"Wait... that sound... is someone... whimpering? But who...?"

Then Everest remembered. She looked at the mess of a pile of four pups, then tilted her head a little to see past them.

Zuma was tossing and turning in his orange blanket. Everest wondered how she missed that, until she remembered- Zuma had never had a nightmare. At least, not to her knowledge.

 _'Zuma? He looks... stressed? Or maybe it's his happy face? I can't tell... wait, is he having a nightmare or a really good dream?'_ The mountain pup carefully wedged herself from Skye, who had using half her body as a pillow, and slowly made her way over to him.

Zuma's face was pinched and his breathing was picking up. Everest knew right away that was no good dream he was having. "Strange... I don't recall the others saying Zuma ever had a nightmare before. I wonder what's going on..."

* * *

 ** _Rocky was grinning widely, his teeth stained with his blood. Zuma gagged and staggered back, shaking his head in disbelief._**

 ** _"N-No... no, I... Wocky, you're not dead... this is seriously getting bad..."_**

 ** _Zuma decided to make a huge mistake and leaned forward again. That wasn't Rocky, there was NO WAY that was his best friend!_**

 ** _...right?_**

 ** _When Zuma looked into the water again, there were ripples where the floating head had just been. Zuma stared into the water a little longer, watching, waiting... and then Rocky's head appeared again._**

 ** _This time, more of the young pup's fur had been peeled off in some spots on his cheek and forehead. His left ear, which had already been damaged before, was ripped nearly in half. His left eye was gone, leaving only a socket which was leaking red._**

 ** _"W-what's happening... what AWE you?" Zuma staggered back, still unable to comprehend what was going on._**

 ** _"I've gotta get out of hewe… I need to find Wyder and the others!"_**

 ** _Zuma tried to get his legs to move, but it felt like he couldn't. He was stuck, staring at the very dead body of his best friend as Rocky slowly rose out of the water._**

 ** _Then Zuma let out a scream._**

* * *

Everest was caught completely off guard at the sudden shriek that Zuma let rip from his lips. Everyone else was soon startled awake as well, rubbing sleepy eyes and looking around in confusion.

"W-Wha… wha's happe'n?" Marshall mumbled sleepily. He let out a large yawn and looked around before he realized all eyes were on Everest and Zuma.

Zuma was beginning to thrash a little, his head shaking from side to side as his nightmare tightened its hold on his mind. Chase approached them, trying to get Zuma to calm down before he found a way to hurt himself.

"Everest...?" Skye asked, worried. "What happened? Why is he screaming like that?"

Everest frowned as she tried to help Chase get Zuma to stop thrashing. "I don't know! It must be one bad nightmare!"

The other pups were really confused now- Zuma actually had nightmares?

"Is he okay? We gotta wake him up, don't we?" Rubble made to do just that, but Chase put out his paw to keep the construction pup back.

"No! We can't wake him up like this; he'll think we're the bad guys and try to attack US!" Chase managed to explain. "He has to wake up on his own!"

The younger pups watched with worry as Zuma continued to groan and toss and turn in his sleep. Rocky frowned a little- Zuma never had a nightmare in his three years of being with them, right? He should know this- he's Zuma's best friend!

 _'Zuma... why would you be having a nightmare so suddenly? And about what?'_

* * *

 ** _Zuma let out a scream that he was certain would be a record breaker if he were awake._**

 ** _Half of Rocky's body was gone. From his midsection down, there was nothing there but dripping blood and torn flesh. Zuma felt bile rise up in his throat and couldn't stop the retching from happening._**

 ** _It looked sickening. It smelled sickening. This was just wrong!_**

 ** _"W-wh... what awe you..." Zuma tried to ask but couldn't speak around the burning in his throat. 'Rocky' was still grinning from ear to ripped ear, but when he opened his mouth and spoke, Zuma felt chills go down his spine._**

 ** _"Aww, YoU actually remember me this time! But look, little Zuma, I don't feel so good!" He sounded odd. Like Rocky's voice mixed with something else, something evil. What would that even be?_**

 ** _Zuma didn't want to look at the mess that was supposed to be his friend. But he didn't have a choice._**

 ** _A cold, wet paw grabbed him by the leg. Zuma struggled to break free, but his other paw clamped down on his second front leg and wasn't letting go._**

 ** _"W-what are you doing?! Let me go!" Zuma panicked- 'Rocky' felt damp and squishy, and smelled horrible!_**

 ** _"CoMe on, ZumA, don't be afraid of me!" That voice was starting to sound less and less like Rocky and more like... whatever this creepy thing was dragging him to the lake._**

 ** _Wait. The lake...? Zuma's eyes widened. He was beginning to understand what was going on._**

 ** _"N-No... no, let me go! Let me go, Wocky!" Zuma struggled harder, even tried to use his hind legs to force the thing to stop. But it was stronger, and it just kept pulling on the poor chocolate pup until he was dangerously close to the edge of the lake._**

 ** _The water was very murky and dark. Zuma couldn't see anything on the surface. He looked at his friend in complete horror._**

 ** _He didn't understand, why was this happening now-_**

 ** _And then he remembered. He froze as he found himself staring at the floating body in front of him, the missing half of Rocky about the same spot where his... mer-pup tail was..._**

 ** _"W-Wocky… y-you-"_**

 ** _'Rocky' cackled before yanking Zuma over the edge of the lake. Zuma let out a scream as he tumbled into the dirty water. He still felt his body being dragged deeper still, and Zuma realized where they were going._**

 ** _That broken, horrible ship. The one thing Zuma could honestly say scared him to literal near death._**

 ** _"No, no! Wocky, NO!"_**

 ** _It was no use. Zuma couldn't see the surface through the thick, murky substance surrounding him. His lungs quickly filled with liquid, and the last thing he saw was that creepy face, still grinning at him as his world went dark._**

 ** _"W...Woc...ky… why..."_**

* * *

"NO!"

Zuma's eyes shot wide open. He sat upright so suddenly, he knocked Everest and Chase over.

"Z-Zuma...?" The chocolate lab was panting heavily, sweat beads rolling down his nose and cheeks. It felt like he was drowning even though he was awake, and he was gasping for air. Chase and Rocky approached him, both of them rubbing Zuma's back to get him to calm down before he blacked out. The other pups rallied around him as well, all talking to him and trying to get him to relax.

After a few moments of catching his breath, he finally realized he was safe, out of that nightmare... and now the center of attention.

"H-Huh?" Zuma coughed as his body finally realized he wasn't in that horrid nightmare any longer.

"D-Dudes? Wha-"

Everyone started asking questions and talking at once. As they advanced on him with the questions, Zuma felt nervous and scared. There was too much going on at once, his chest burned for some reason, and he still hadn't come to grips with that new version of the nightmare he'd just had.

"D-Dudes, stop, please..." Zuma coughed again, feeling that same burning feeling in his chest. He curled into a ball on his pillow, trying to get his head to stop hurting and his chest to stop burning. But his friends were still asking too many questions, and it sounded like they couldn't hear his pleas.

"Dudes, come on! G-guys, chill out!" he tried to say, but he was being drowned out by the voices of his friends.

Finally, he had enough. In as loud a voice as he could muster, Zuma yelled, "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Just like that, all was silent. The pups backed away from Zuma, none of them ever seeing him so rattled and upset. Rocky tilted his head- what was going on with his friend?

"Zuma...?" Zuma couldn't keep his composure anymore, and didn't like all eyes on him in his state. Without a word, he got up and bolted out the Lookout, ignoring the howling, cold winds and the pouring rain.

Rocky and the others shared worried looks. No one knew what to do for a short while.

"S-Should we go after him?" Rubble finally broke the ice.

"I don't know... he seemed pretty shaken up." Marshall added in, not liking the sound of the crazy weather outside, but still worried for Zuma, too.

As the other pups tried to figure out what to do, Rocky looked at the pouring rain, then out the Lookout door where Zuma left from, and made up his mind.

"Guys? guys!"

All eyes were on him. Rocky looked pretty serious as he said, "Stay here; I'm going to go talk to him."

"You sure?" Chase was already up, his natural police pup instincts already at work. He started making his way to the elevator. "It's pouring rain outside; should I get Ryder or Jake or-?"

Rocky shook his head, telling himself he was REALLY going to regret doing this. He hated/feared water, that wasn't news to anyone.

But he had never seen Zuma so upset or even heard him raise his voice before. Something bad happened just now, whatever that nightmare was. And if everyone went after Zuma in that state, Rocky had no doubt the aqua rescue pup would completely shut down from all the attention.

"No, no. I just... let's not wake Ryder up. He needs a break, and I don't think Zuma's going to talk to him, either. Just..." Rocky sighed and offered the most reassuring smile he could to his friends.

"Just trust me, okay? Besides, Zuma's scared. Like, really scared. And that's... that's just water. Just have a towel ready for me, okay? For both of us. I'll get him to come inside and talk to us." _'Especially since I'm starting to think I might know what shook him up so bad, anyways.'_

Before anyone could ask what he meant, Rocky ran off. Chase sighed and watched as Rocky bolted as fast as he could to Zuma's pup house. Everest could see the worry clear as day on his face.

"You alright, Chase?" Chase shook his head no.

"It's just... I've never seen Zuma act like that- ever! I'm really worried about him, you know? And I don't know if we should get Ryder or what... I feel like an idiot..."

The other pups sat around the two. "We all are, Chase." Marshall said, placing a paw on his shoulder. "But Ryder does a lot for us. He should be allowed to rest."

Skye nodded. "Marshall's right, Chase. Rocky is Zuma's closest friend, so let Rocky talk to him first. Maybe he can get him to come inside and then we can talk to him together."

"Marshall and Skye are right." Rubble agreed. "We can't do anything if Zuma doesn't want to talk about it. You know he can stay quiet for, like a LONG time."

Tracker and Everest shared a look. "Amigos, Es... ¿es la primera vez que Zuma ha tenido una pesadilla? Is this the first time Zuma's had a nightmare?" Tracker asked them.

All of them nodded yes. Chase looked at the door and sighed. His friends were right, but that didn't really ease his worry for Zuma.

* * *

Zuma was curled tight in his pup house, the rain pounding on his roof. He couldn't get himself under control, and he knew he needed to apologize but that nightmare was far too gory and real and he almost lost his best friend and he couldn't _breathe-_

"Z-Zuma?" A small knock at the door. Zuma almost jumped out of his skin. He heard the knock again and tried to get his heart to stop racing.

"Zuma? It's me- can you let me in?" Wiping his nose, the brown pup sniffed and buried his head in his paws. He really wasn't in the mood to answer any questions or talk or anything at the moment.

"Go away, dude." he answered.

Rocky whimpered- man, it was pouring rain and he was stuck! But his best friend needed him first, and it was _just a little water, it would dry off... and leave a nasty smell._ "It's Rocky. Can I come in? Please?"

"No, Wocky. Go away." Zuma buried his head in his paws as much as he could- his head was beginning to hurt. "I don't want to talk wight now."

"Come on, Zuma, pleaseee? It's wet out here!" Rocky pleaded, hating how soaked he was getting. He yelped as a flash of lightening tore through the sky. "And there's lightening! Please, Zuma? Pleasssse?"

Realizing Rocky was outside in the pouring rain and wasn't planning on leaving him be, Zuma finally opened his door and quickly resumed his spot so Rocky couldn't see him crying. Rocky shook himself dry a little, sighing in relief of being out the rain. He closed the door behind him.

"Man, the water! Yuck, yuck! Why did I agree to this again?" Rocky whined, being careful of Zuma as he continued to shake himself dry. Even with the little droplets that fell on him, Zuma hadn't moved. He sniffed a few times, trying to get his crying under control.

Zuma had stopped crying, but his eyes were a bit puffy and red and he wasn't lifting his head until Rocky left.

"Zuma?" Rocky approached him. "Hey, you okay?"

Zuma didn't verbally answer, just shook his head no. Rocky sighed and laid down next to him, close enough they touched shoulders.

"I know you answered this already, but... you want to talk about it?"

Again, Zuma shook his head no, and inched a little away from Rocky. Rocky let out a small whimper- was Zuma angry at him? Did he do something to him recently? Maybe he said something that offended him?

"Did... did I do something to make you mad at me?" Rocky asked sadly. Zuma shook his head no, still sniffling, staying away from Rocky, and not lifting his head from his paws.

 _'Too weal... that was too, too weal! I can't face him! He probably hates me! No... no, I can't talk to him wight now. Not after what I've done...'_

"Z-Zuma... did you have a nightmare?" Rocky finally asked the big question. Zuma's whole body tensed, and Rocky figured he was getting somewhere now. Or maybe he was just getting Zuma more upset, it was still hard to tell.

"Was it bad? Can you tell me what it was?"

"No, Wocky! I told you I don't want to talk about it, okay?! Just leave me alone!" Zuma finally, finally yelled. To Rocky's odd shock, he was quite relieved- a quiet Zuma was WAY too hard to figure out, too hard to crack open.

But he never had to deal with an emotional Zuma before, either. Not once. In fact, no one saw Zuma in this state before. Zuma was usually a laid back, go with the flow type of pup. What kind of nightmare did he have that rattled him like that?

Rocky tilted his head and studied Zuma's face for a moment. His eyes were red, tears had dried on his cheeks, and his body was trembling something fierce. "Zuma, you need to talk to me. Please, can you tell me what happened? You're shaking like a leaf."

Zuma was failing miserably at the tough guy act. He tried to keep his composure, but as Rocky laid there, patiently waiting and staring at him, Zuma slowly lost the energy to stay angry, and flashbacks of his nightmare ran through his head.

 _'That... that smell... the blood... h-how did I fail? I saved him! He's wight here! O-Or maybe... I'm still dweaming…? No, I- I can't be! Wocky's wight here! A-And... he's in one piece! Oh, my tummy... and my head... they huwt...'_

"Y-You... I... " Rocky kept waiting- Zuma was reaching his breaking point. Although it hurt the eco pup to see one of his friends suffering like this, and his first instinct was to hug the heck out of him, he knew each of them handled things differently, and Zuma was no exception.

 _'He's not open and touchy like Marshall is. All you would have to do is just hug him and he'd break in a minute. But he's not stubborn and tough like Chase is, either. I've only seen him have a nightmare once, and trying to get HIM to crack is something else entirely. Zuma's... just different.'_

Zuma inched closer to Rocky, mumbling all types of nonsense. Rocky simply extended his paw out to him and continued to wait. _'Zuma never experienced a nightmare before. I mean, heck, usually nothing actually scares him! But... whatever this was... it must've been bad... really, really bad...'_

"... I failed you, Wocky…" Zuma mumbled. Rocky tilted his head.

"Failed me? Zuma?" Rocky was worried- did something happen that he just overlooked? "What do you mean?"

Zuma looked at Rocky, and the eco pup's chest tightened. His best friend looked painfully lost and upset.

"I'm sowwy, Wocky… I'm so sowwy…" Zuma barely got out in a whisper before his tears overtook him. Rocky didn't know what to do, so he went with his first instinct and hugged him tight.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm right here. You're okay, you're okay." Rocky consoled him. It didn't seem to help, though, because Zuma was just a mess. Rocky frowned as he continued to console Zuma, rubbing his back.

 _'What happened? When did anything change with him? That's the problem- if something was bothering Zuma, it'd be so hard to tell because he's so hard to read! He seemed normal, more or less! Except... after that mer-pup incident. But that wasn't so bad- sure, being a mer-pup was fun, and Zuma was so excited to be one, too! He was a bit shaken up when that ship almost killed us both, but he seemed to take it way better than me, than Ryder, than pretty much all of us! So what went wrong? Or maybe... maybe he was never okay...'_

Rocky was getting frustrated- he couldn't seem to figure this one out! Maybe one of the others might know, but... how much would they really know? Heck, Rocky was his

"Zuma?" He'd been so deep in trying to figure out what changed within Zuma, he honestly hadn't noticed how long Zuma had been quietly sitting. Where Zuma's head rested against him was damp, or that might of been just the rain. Rocky felt Zuma's breathing on his wet fur, which made him shudder a little, and Zuma's chest was still rising and falling slowly against him.

"Zuma? You still awake?" In response, said pup shifted a little, indicating he was still quite awake.

"...ummhmmm…" The pup mumbled below him. Yeah, sleep was NOT an option right now. Not for a long while, honestly. But Rocky's fur felt nice against his cheek, and he was _alive and whole and breathing and NOT DEAD-_

"Listen, Zuma. Uh... well, the others are worried about you. I can stay here as long as you want, but..." Rocky sighed and stroked Zuma's head. Zuma was starting to feel a little heavy against him, but he wasn't sure if he was asleep or if he just felt scared and wanted to feel someone against him.

 _'I'm soaked to the bone! I guess it doesn't bother Zuma, him being a water rescue pup and all, but... ewww! I don't want to smell like TWO wet pups! Yuck!'_

"But they want to know what happened. I want to know what happened. I just know it was a nightmare- can you tell me about it?"

Zuma shook his head no. "I... I don't... want to." he continued speaking in a soft, low voice. "C-Can you stay here instead? Please?"

"I can, but it's not fair to the others." Rocky explained. He sighed. "Please, Zuma. Just talk to me. Was it something scary?"

Zuma shook his head no again and pressed his head a little more against his shoulder. _'It's okay, Zuma. Wocky's wight here. You didn't fail, he's alive, he's alive, you and him are okay, evewyone's okay-'_

For a while, Rocky didn't know what to do but let Zuma stay close to him. Zuma wasn't trying to talk about what had happened, or even hint at it. The eco pup listening to the rain pounding on Zuma's pup house roof and whimpered.

"It sure is coming down hard out there." Rocky commented, mostly to fill the quiet space and to distract himself from the stupid weather. Zuma closed his eyes and decided to ask Rocky a question that, up until now, had never crossed his mind.

"W-Wocky?"

"Hmm? Yeah?"

"How do you... deal with losing someone? Like a... a weally good fwiend?" Rocky wasn't sure why Zuma sounded so quiet and strained, but chalked it up to his heavy crying earlier.

"You mean, someone dying?" he clarified. Zuma nodded. Rocky blinked- no one has ever died in Adventure Bay! At least, not to his immediate knowledge.

 _'Maybe someone died in his nightmare, one of us? But what would make him dream of something so scary? We're all here and together, he saw that for himself! No one's come that close to death, ever! I'm so confused... Zuma... what happened to you to make you dream of something so scary?'_

"Zuma...I don't... know. I don't think I've ever had to deal with it before... I don't think that any of us have before." He paused in thought for a minute, then asked:

"Is that what you're afraid of? Death or someone dying?"

Zuma whimpered; he didn't know what he was scared of, still didn't, but that nightmare was beginning to make sense. _'Maybe... maybe it's losing Wocky I'm afwaid of. Especially since I came so close to that happening. What kind of fear is that? I'm pawt of the PAW Patwol!'_

* * *

 **And done! Originally, this was supposed to be a one shot, but with the idea shaping the way it was, I figured it would be best to split it into two. Besides, this chapter is PRETTY long in of itself.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys liked part one! Let me know what you think, constructive criticism, thoughts, comments, but no flames.**

 **Until next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! Here's part two of the little story! Please enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Conqueror**

 **Chapter 2**

Zuma didn't know how to answer the question Rocky asked. He'd never had to think about that before, even though- well, he did have a FEW nightmares. But they weren't as bad as this one, and certainly not about death!

Just the usual- crocodiles, that one time they watched a horror movie Ryder told them NOT to watch, more crocodiles... but this was something else entirely.

 _'Too much blood... too much blood! Okay, okay, calm down. Wocky's here, he asked you a question. Just focus on Wocky… focus on Wocky...'_ Zuma told himself. _'He's alive, and not a mangled-'_

Rocky was a bit worried at the sudden silence from his friend, and began to ask himself if that was too direct a question. "Z-Zuma? If you don't want to answer-"

"I don't know if that's what I'm scawed of, Wocky." Zuma finally spoke. He stared into space as he tried to explain what was in his head. _'I mean... death? I've never seen someone die, except in my nightmawe… not in weal life, though. Is that actually something to be afwaid of?'_

"I've never... been scawed of anything, you know? We're the PAW Patwol, we're supposed to be bwave and stuff, and I'm pawt of this team, but still..."

Zuma paused again, his head throbbing as he spoke. He rubbed his temple- why was this so difficult? Rocky was one of his best friends, he could tell him anything! _'Calm down, calm down! Just take your time and answer the question...'_

"That nightmawe… it was howwible…" Zuma whispered, mostly to himself. Rocky tilted his head, unsure if Zuma had just spoken.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

Zuma chewed his bottom lip, still trying to get his swirling thoughts out there. "I don't know... what that nightmawe was about. I-I mean, I do, but I-I don't, I... " Zuma gave up, unable for the life of him to get his words right.

"I'm sowwy… I can't-" Zuma let out a long sigh and rested his head against Rocky again, choosing to just savor the fact it was over and Rocky was here with him. "I can't do this, Wocky."

Despite the lack of information he received, Rocky was glad that Zuma was at least talking to him, even if he was still just as confusing as he had been earlier. He thought of other ways to get his friend to talk, but knew Zuma would keep shutting himself down.

This was a task a little too big for Rocky to handle alone, and was obviously too much in general for Zuma to talk about without getting overwhelmed.

"Zuma?" Said pup looked up at him.

"Would you feel better if we went back inside? With the others? Trust me, it's not as bad when you have others to talk to."

Zuma looked very apprehensive about having to go inside. He let out a whimper and shook his head no. Rocky was a bit disappointed- he'd hoped that Zuma would at least want to get out of his pup house by now- but did his best to hide it. It was pouring rain outside!

"O-Okay... well, you want to talk some more?" Rocky asked, laying down. If he was going to wait out the storm, he may as well get comfortable. "If it'll help take your mind of things."

Zuma laid down as well, looking at Rocky with a grateful expression. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to face the others yet. He was having a hard enough time trying to explain things to one pup, he wasn't sure he could handle six more at the moment.

"Y-Yeah... thanks, dude."

* * *

As the thunderstorm continued, the other pups didn't know what to do except wait for Rocky to return with Zuma. Ryder, Carlos and Jake were still asleep upstairs. Chase was pacing back and forth, looking worried and too old for his young pup age.

"Do you think he's okay?" Chase wondered. He still felt that they should have gotten Ryder by now, but the others argued him down again, telling him to give Rocky some time to talk with Zuma before they woke Ryder for no real reason.

It was over thirty minutes since Rocky ran out after him. The pups weren't sure what was going on, and no one wanted to brave the storm to knock on Zuma's pup house.

"Should we call them, at least?" Rubble asked the team, looking to the others. "They've been gone for so long!"

Everest shook her head no. "No, let them talk for a little bit longer. Zuma must've been really disturbed by whatever happened in his nightmare." she replied. She was staring at Chase pacing, and chuckled at the maturity of the police pup. "And maybe you should take a break, Chase?"

Chase paused in his pacing and looked at her. His legs were starting to feel tired, he had to admit, but now was not the time to relax. "Are you sure? Seriously, I've never seen Zuma _that_ upset! Ever! I don't know, don't you think we should at least _tell_ Ryder-?"

"Chase, Ryder finally has a day off to relax and talk to other people who aren't us." Skye explained. "He's always worrying about us. Don't you think we should at least let him enjoy his rest? Just this once?"

"I agree." Everest chimed in. "Jake's been really, really busy at the Ski Lodge lately. He's hardly had time to visit you guys, or anything that WASN'T rescuing. I really don't want to wake him unless its a true emergency."

"And this _isn't_ an emergency?!" Chase almost shrieked. Skye and Everest looked at each other, then Chase, who was beginning to freak out a little. They covered their mouths to hide the giggles at the pup's sudden voice raise. Chase growled in annoyance and resumed his rapid pacing.

Tracker added his thoughts as well, thinking about his owner. "Sí, es cierto, amigo. They're right- Carlos has been muy solo lately, even with me around. I think he just misses all you amgios, so it's nice to see him happy!"

The police pup stopped pacing again, and looked at his friends. Listening to what the others were saying made Chase realize that he was being a bit unfair to his handler- no, a LOT unfair. Ryder was still a ten year old, no matter how mature he was as their leader. He was working extra hard with all the rescues popping up all over Adventure Bay, maintaining their Lookout home, all their other rescue gear, their pup houses and his ATV, and still finding time to do fun things and taking fun trips, like to the jungle and Jake's Mountain.

They've literally done everything and been almost everywhere. So rest and relaxation and hanging out with his pen pal and someone he viewed as a big brother wasn't something Ryder got to cherish often. Everest and Tracker would probably agree with him, too.

"... yeah... I guess you guys are right." Chase finally admitted and went to lay down on his pillow. His ears lowered a little as he heard the crazy rain outside. "I'm just a bit worried about Zuma..."

"That's WAAAAY more than just 'a bit'." Marshall laughed as he walked over to his best friend. "We all are, believe me." Marshall gave Chase a light bump on his shoulder.

"But Rocky's got this. He's pretty close with Zuma, so I'm sure he'll convince him to come inside and talk to us."

Chase looked at Marshall and smiled a little. "You have a point. Thanks, Marshall."

"Speaking of which... do you think Zuma's nightmare was because of a fear he had?" Rubble wondered, still trying to find out the reason for his friend's exit. "Well, even though Zuma never actually said he was _scared_ of anything, but still- that's one reason to have a nightmare, right?"

"I don't know." Skye answered, shrugging her shoulders "But we've had nightmares, and we always talk about it, right?"

Tracker and Everest shared another look before Everest spoke what was on their minds. "Uh, pups? Me and Tracker lived on our own for most of our lives. We've never had others to comfort us when we were going through extra scary nightmares. Perhaps that's why Zuma ran off- not because he's embarrassed, but because he's never needed someone to comfort him. I can almost bet he's had at least one nightmare before."

Chase and the others never thought about it that way. "You think so?"

"Si, I believe Everest is right. Zuma may of had pesadillas before but maybe he wasn't ready to talk to you amigos yet." Tracker added.

Rubble tilted his head, that one Spanish word very confusing. "Pes- pisa- what?"

"I think that word means 'nightmares'." Marshall said with a proud grin, finally catching on to some Spanish. "Right, Tracker?"

"Si, amigo!" Tracker answered, laughing. Everyone else laughed as well, and Chase and Rubble felt a little less worried. Just a little.

Once the laughter died down, the pups looked at one another again, trying to figure out what to talk about, and worrying about Rocky and Zuma. "You think Rocky got anywhere with Zuma?" Chase wondered.

"It's been over a half hour. I don't think so, at least not yet." Skye replied. Chase whimpered a little, staring outside.

"I hope Zuma's okay..."

Marshall moved over to Everest, something she said earlier piquing curiosity in him. "Hey, Everest?"

"Yeah Marshall?"

"What you said before, about not having anyone to talk to when you had bad dreams..." Marshall looked a little sad as he faced his friend. "How did you deal with that?"

Noticing Marshall talking with Everest, Rubble loudly asked, "Hey guys! Whatcha talking about?"

All eyes were on the husky and dally pups. Marshall rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I was... curious, I guess? About what Everest and Tracker said, how they didn't have friends or family to help them with their nightmares? So I, uh... I asked her about it!"

Everest laughed a little. "Pretty much. But I can still answer that."

"You sure? I mean, it sounds... sad." Rubble whimpered. Everest brushed it off.

Frankly, at one point, Everest would have agreed with Rubble- not having anyone for miles in the Artic was very lonely. But since joining the PAW Patrol and living with Jake, she came to realize it was easier when you had a friend to share things with. It didn't make the pain seem so overwhelming and scary anymore. _'Zuma should be here. Maybe me and Tracker know what he's going though right now.'_

"Well, I don't know how much Jake told you guys about me?" she started. Chase shook his head.

"Nothing, really. When Ryder made you our newest member, he and Jake were talking, remember guys?"

The others, except for Tracker, nodded. "Yeah, that's true... Ryder told us to get inside the tents and he and Jake went off someplace to chat." Skye added. "But he never told us what they said to each other."

Everest arched an eyebrow- this was her first time hearing about this conversation herself. "Jake and Ryder talked? Really? What was I doing?"

"Eating a LOT of marshmallows!" Rubble laughed. Everest chuckled and rubbed her tummy.

"I told you, I was hungry! I'm always hungry!"

Rubble rubbed his as well and grinned. "And that's why we're such great friends! We both love to eat!"

The others laughed and shook their heads. Then Everest returned to the conversation at hand.

"Well, it seems like Jake left you pups in a cloud of mystery, so I'll tell you about me- just another time. It's a REALLY long story." Marshall groaned a little, disappointed to not hear her (probably) amazing backstory, but opted to settle for the answer to his question instead.

"Don't be sad, Marshall. I don't know a lot about you pups, either, so it'll be something we can save for our next sleepover together!" Everest said, the thought of having more time with her friends causing a smile to appear. "And this time, we'll have Zuma here with us so we don't have to have a repeat of this conversation."

"Yeah... yeah, that's true. Okay then!" Marshall perked up rather quickly. "Next sleepover is going to be a blast!"

* * *

"Wocky?"

"Hmm?"

The two pups were still hiding out in Zuma's puphouse. Rocky and Zuma were curled up in the middle of the pup house, their backs touching one another.

Zuma still couldn't sleep, but Rocky had to admit, the rain's pitter patter atop the pup house was starting to make him very drowsy. He didn't want to fall asleep yet, not when he still needed to go back inside and let the others know what was going on. And hide under a blanket and have more nightmares about water again.

"I'm sowwy." Zuma apologized again and out of nowhere. Rocky opened one eye and looked over his shoulder. He wasn't sure what it was, but Zuma looked pretty sad, his body and ears sagging in guilty defeat.

"For what? Did-" Rocky yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Did you do something?"

"I-It's just..." Zuma looked up at his roof, and Rocky sighed- the darn rain was _still falling?! 'Seriously, weirdest storm ever! I am SO going to have nightmares after this...'_

"I... I didn't think you would come out hewe when you should be inside with the others. I know you can't stand the wain or water." Zuma explained. "If you want to go back, you... you can. I'll be okay hewe."

Rocky heard the disappointment and sadness in his friend's voice, and felt a bit guilty for trying to rush him inside so soon. He sat up to stretch and immediately laid back down, stretching out his body. Zuma rolled over so the two pups were facing each other, even though the aqua loving pup was trying to hide his face in his paws.

"Oh, Zuma..." Gently, Rocky pried one of his paws off his face. "Listen, I'm sorry if it seemed that I was rushing you." Rocky apologized. "It's just... I've never seen you act like this before, and I didn't know what to do, you know? We've all had nightmares but... we've always depended on each other to cope with it."

Zuma nodded; he understood, he really did, but explaining where the nightmare came from, how long he'd been dealing with it, it was just too much to tell everyone. It wasn't a normal nightmare, and it wasn't due to normal reasons. He curled up closer to Rocky.

"I know. We do always talk about it, don't we." He looked up at Rocky. Rocky nodded.

"Pretty much. I think we talk about a lot of things, but I think Ryder is usually the one who kinda… I don't know, like helps us through it?"

"Tuwe… Wyder does a lot."

Rocky started chuckling at a memory that at one point, he thought was horrible. "You know, back when I was having this crazy nightmare about me drowning in that endless sea of water and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sleep for days. I thought I was doing a good job playing it off, but Ryder called me out on it after I kept falling asleep on the job. Remember?"

A look of recognition appeared as Zuma found pieces of that particular incident. "Oh, yeah! You almost wan Mr. Powter over with your gawbage twuck! Twice!" Zuma chuckled. Rocky rolled his eyes, but secretly, he was glad Zuma started talking again... even if he still wasn't telling him what had happened.

"And remember that nightmare Chase had about us being 'killer dentists'? He was soooo stubborn and denied it until the next time he had to actually go to the dentist!" Rocky laughed.

Zuma definitely remembered that one- Chase was the biggest out of them at that time, and when he was stubborn and ran and wanted to hide, he made it the biggest challenge ever!

"Ohhh yeah, I remember- Mawshall hit you kind of hard with his water cannons. I don't think I ever saw you that mad since the changing woom thing happened!"

"Darn dally and his water cannons... he always seems to hit ME with it!" Rocky complained. "But it was the only way any of us stood a chance at getting Chase to stop running! For a German shepherd, when he's freaked out, he can RUN!"

"Well, Evewest doesn't live with us, otherwise she could have stopped him. But Chase is always stubbown- that's why he's our leader!"

Rocky laughed with him. Zuma sounded so carefree, so much more like himself. "And then of course, the epic mer pup incidents... ohhhh man, I don't think I've ever had so many good dreams and nightmares at one time EVER in my life!"

Like a switch, Zuma's face fell. Of course- the mer pups. The one thing he had found to be more than amazing at one point, even beautiful as he got to swim underwater and venture into a huge underwater kingdom, but that incident... that one incident that scarred him for life and _that nightmare-_

"Zuma? Zuma!" Rocky waved his paw in front of his friend's face. Zuma snapped out of it.

"W-Wocky…? What... wha'..." Burying his head in his paws, he groaned- his head was slowly beginning the throbbing again, and just when he'd finally gotten the nightmare partially out of his memory.

Rocky frowned. He'd mention the mer-pups, one of Zuma's most favorite memories, and instead of a smile, he looked... scared. As he rubbed Zuma's head, it suddenly clicked.

 _'So many good dreams... and nightmares... wait. Out of the six of us, me and Zuma had been affected the most by the whole mer pup rescue, but- oh. OH. I think... I think I know what it was now.'_

"Zuma... it was the mer pups? Is that what was causing you to have nightmares?" Rocky asked. Zuma didn't lift his head, but after a few moments, he finally nodded yes.

 _'So I was right. Even though I didn't know or really push it at the time. It was the mer pup incident that scarred him, but it happened so long ago! Well, more like months ago... I don't really understand. Was Zuma still bothered by it, even after we both got better? Why didn't I notice that?'_

"Oh man, Zuma... I didn't know... I mean, I should have noticed something when we went to Puplantis. You were acting so nervous and skittish, like something had been bothering you. And I noticed it but I didn't say anything!"

"I-It's not... your fault. I should have spoken up, but... I couldn't do it." Zuma lifted his head. "I thought it would just... go away, you know?"

"But how come you never said anything to anyone? You know you could've came to us... you could have came to me." Rocky said, still a bit angry at himself for not checking on Zuma sooner. He should have known it would bother him to some degree, especially after that scare. But Zuma was sooooo hard to read!

Zuma shrugged his shoulders. "I... I don't know why, Wocky. I really don't. I just needed to forget about it."

 _'Okay, he's talking. So that means I was right- I get it now. I've just got to convince him to come inside and tell the others. This will be new to Everest and Tracker- neither of them have ever seen or heard of a mer-pup before. This should be... interesting.'_

"How long has this been going on?" Rocky asked.

"I-I don't know, on and off again for a few weeks. It wasn't all the time." Zuma was beginning to get uncomfortable with all the questions that Rocky was asking, but he knew Rocky meant well. He was starting to wonder if going back inside the Lookout with the others would help him, but with all the questions Rocky was asking, wouldn't things just be worse with six pups asking all at once? And then there was explaining the scars on Rocky's hind legs and the mer-pup thing and-

Rocky stopped asking questions- Zuma was getting uncomfortable again. He felt he had enough information to put together what Zuma's nightmare _could_ be, but he still needed definite confirmation. Before he could figure out how to resume the conversation, his and Zuma's pup tags beeped. It startled Zuma, who let out a loud scream before realizing it was only their tags. Rocky smiled reassuringly and turned Zuma's pup tag off. The lab sat there for a few moments, trying to control his rapidly racing heart and collect himself.

 _'Hey, Rocky? Zuma? Are you two okay?'_ Both pups looked at one another as Chase called to check on them. Zuma raised his paw, still trying to calm down, but was more or less okay.

"Yeah, we're okay. I'm dry, at least." Rocky chuckled. Chase got a bit of amusement out of that. "And Zuma's here, too. He's calmed down a good bit. What's up? Is everyone okay? Is Ryder awake?"

 _'No, we decided not to bother him. He's out like a log upstairs. But, listen. Could you two come inside?'_ Chase requested. _'I think Everest might have a way to make Zuma feel comfortable enough to talk about his nightmare with us.'_

Rocky grinned- he knew going back inside would be a great idea! With the information he now had, plus the others, plus whatever Everest was planning, Zuma would finally be able to explain what was going on with him. He silently thanked whatever pup spirit was out there as he got up, his tail happily wagging. Oh, it wouldn't be too much longer until he could get the heck out of the rain!

"Yeah, give us a few minutes. Thanks, Chase!" Rocky responded. Zuma looked at Rocky as he tapped his pup tag off. Of course, he knew he'd have to go back inside, and Rocky seemed really relieved to be away from him... was he that bad to deal with? What was wrong with him?

"W-Wocky?"

"Hmm?" Rocky caught that sad expression again, and his guilt crashed on him all over again. He didn't even bother to ask the aqua rescue pup if he was ready to go inside! _'Wow, an I being a jerk tonight or what?'_ "Oh, Zuma I-"

"Wait, Wocky. Let me... let me say this." Zuma closed his eyes and inhaled and exhaled slowly. Then he opened his eyes and looked at his best friend, that sadness a lot less noticeable. In fact, any expression on Zuma's face was unreadable.

Rocky was worried- did he just make things worse? Or maybe he hurt Zuma's feelings and he doesn't want to show it- what kind of best friend was he?!

All those thoughts were thrown out the window when Zuma approached him and nuzzled his head against Rocky's cheek. The mixed pup was frozen, Zuma being like this NEVER happening before, ever!

"I... I know I was being difficult. It's... its just I'm not used to this. But... I know you care about me, and the others do, too. I... I guess... I want to thank you. For doing this, wunning out here in this wain, just to check on me." Zuma said softly. If he was being honest, this was hard and very, very weird, but Rocky was his best friend, so it wasn't all that bad.

When Zuma stepped back, and Rocky got a good look at him, he smiled. Zuma looked a lot less tense and angry and sad. His eyes were still a bit red from his crying, but he was starting to come back to himself.

"Are you sure? I didn't want to force you to go inside if you weren't ready!"

"I think I'm weady. To talk to the others."

Zuma walked past him and hit a button on the right of his door, opening his pup house door, and ran outside to get to the Lookout. Rocky touched a paw to his left cheek where Zuma had nuzzled him and felt his face heat up a little.

 _'That's... the first time Zuma's ever done something like that. I know he can be affectionate, but not like THAT! That's like a Marshall thing! Maybe... I'm getting the hang of this- thanks, Ryder!'_

Rocky felt awesome, and was about to walk out Zuma's pup house- until his paw got wet from the first step and he was brought crashing down to reality.

The thunderstorm. He'd forgotten about that. The winds finally began to show signs of calming down, but the rain was still coming down hard. Rocky looked at that rain and gulped before he steeled himself and bolted for the Lookout like a mad pup.

"Oh, ew, ew, EWWWW! _Waterrrr!"_

* * *

"Chase? Did you just call them inside?" Rubble asked as Chase ended the call with Rocky. Chase nodded.

"If Everest is going to explain this to us, I think Zuma and Rocky should be here for it. Maybe then we can figure out what is going on around here."

The other pups froze when Tracker's ears began to twitch. He looked around, and asked, "Is someone... snoring?"

Everest, Tracker, Chase, Skye and Rubble were a mix of confused and nervous at whatever Tracker was hearing, until Rubble looked at Marshall's blanket and laughed. "Guys? It's nothing bad, just Marshall's snoring!"

The others looked at the rising and falling blanket, and then spotted their spotted dally pup fast asleep, curled within his blanket. He'd fallen asleep during the whole waiting for Everest to talk thing, or at least, that's what the others were assuming.

Chase shook his head. "Leave it to Marshall to fall asleep now!" he laughed. Everyone else laughed before Rubble shook Marshall awake. It took some shaking, but eventually, the firepup opened his eyes and let out a yawn.

"H-Heyyyyy, guys. Di' I miss som'thi'?" he mumbled sleepily. His head plopped right back on his pillow and his face snuggled into his blanket. "Uhmm, jus' wa'e me wh'n I... tim' f'r bre'kfa't…"

Everyone looked at one another for translation before all eyes were on Chase. The german shepard pup shrugged.

"Heck if I know what he said. It's Marshall, okay? Sometimes I don't know what he dreams about, and other times, I don't _want_ to know."

The laughter was cut short when the main doors opened. Zuma stepped inside, sheepishly looking at his friends and sitting down, soaked to the bone.

"Ehehehe… anyone got a towel?"

Howling in happiness- until Everest warned them to keep it down so the three males upstairs wouldn't wake up- the leader of the group ran off to grab Zuma's beach towel. As he ran past, he kicked Marshall awake. The dally woke with a fright, and flew high enough into the air that when he fell, he crashed into Zuma, sending the pair of pups rolling and eventually smacking into the wall next to the door.

Marshall grinned, embarrassed as Zuma gave him a deadpan look. "Uhhhh, heyyy Zuma? Ehehe, sorry man. By the way, you're soaked!"

Zuma couldn't hold his face any longer, and just laughed. "It's good to see you awake too, Mawshall."

Chase returned with a bright orange towel, Zuma's tag emblem stretched across the length of it. He tossed it over both pups, and Zuma gave Chase a smile in thanks. Chase looked at the door.

"Was Rocky coming behind you?"

Zuma thought Rocky had been right behind him- did the rain paralyze him again? All the pups looked at the door, standing back so it wouldn't open and let in the rain. After another minute-

"LET ME INNNNNN! LET ME IN! IT'S WET OUT HERE!"

Rocky wasted no time in zooming inside, soaked head to toe. He immediately shook himself dry, whimpering and complaining about the water and the smell. When he finished, he was quite poofy and dry, but now the rest of the team was wet.

"Oh! Hey guys! When did you get outside?" Rocky asked innocently. The other pups rolled their eyes, and Chase retrieved Rocky's bright green beach towel. When he returned, the others were dry and back under their blankets. Chase tossed Rocky's towel over to him.

"Ahhhh, nice and dryyyy… thanks, Chase." Rocky exclaimed quite happily. He snuggled in his pillow, which felt warmer than normal for some reason, and basked in his dryness- even though he dreaded having to take a bath in the morning. He was going to have that gross dog smell, but who cares? _'NO WATER! Thank goodness!'_

Everest got up to check the time. "Guys, it's almost 2:30 in the morning. Seriously, we better keep the volume down."

Zuma chuckled as he grew comfortable and dry under his towel and blanket, but still not comfortable enough to forget that nightmare and go back to sleep. He looked at his friends and cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"U-Uh, guys? I... I owe you all an apology." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess I shouldn't have wun out like that, wight."

Chase brushed that thought off. "We're just glad you're back inside and you're doing okay. We were seriously worried about you."

"And by seriously, he means pacing the floor until he could make a hole in it!" Skye chimed in with a giggle. Chase cut his eyes at her.

"Really, Skye? Not cool. Not. Cool."

"It's cool, Chase." Zuma laughed. "I know that's something you do- it's a Chase thing!"

Chase was the only one not laughing at that- instead he pouted a little. "Well, _excuseeee me._ " When Skye gave him a little nudge, though, Chase sighed dramatically and smiled.

"Okay, okay, I guess that's kind of funny. I do pace a lot, don't I."

"So, uh, Zuma?" Rubble asked, bringing the conversation back on track. "What was that about? Did you really have a nightmare?"

Zuma nodded. "Y-Yeah... I, uh..."

He glanced over to Rocky, who was offering a smile in support. _'You can do this, Zuma. You told me. Don't be afraid to talk to the others.'_

"I, uh... yeah, it was a nightmawe. And it... it wasn't my fiwst one." Zuma finally finished. Even Everest was speechless as she looked shocked, like the other pups. It was then Rocky got up, walked over to Zuma, and sat next to him, placing a paw on his head.

"Everest, Tracker, we have quite a tale to tell you. You'll need to hear it before Zuma's nightmare makes sense, right Zuma?"

Zuma was hiding from embarrassment and nervousness in his pillow, but nodded yes. _'Sewiously, Wocky, you are the best. You don't have to do this. I should be doing it, but... not yet. I thought I was, but I'm not weady yet.'_

"You, uh... also might need to see these." Rocky sat down and extended his left hind leg, pushing some of his fur out of the way. Leaning closer, Everest and Tracker saw it and gasped.

"Rocky! Qué le pasó a tus piernas? What happened to your leg?!" Tracker gasped. Everest was shocked, but wondered why the other pups weren't taking a look at his leg. She looked behind her, and saw that they were quiet. _'Did something happen? Why are they so quiet?'_

Rocky extended his other hind leg. " _LEGS."_ he corrected Tracker. "I, uh... kinda got scars on both of them now. Most of my fur covers them, so unless you look reeeeallly hard, you wouldn't know they were there." he explained.

Everest looked from the silent pups, to the whimpering and slightly shaking Zuma, who was still hiding his face in his paws, to the scarred legs of her eco-pup friend, and sat upright. Something had happened, all right- the solemn look on the others' faces pretty much gave that one away.

"Guys... what happened?" she asked. "I'm guessing it wasn't anything good?"

Rocky chuckled nervously, scratching behind his right ear. "Well, believe it or not, Everest, Tracker, it, uh... it started with, uh.. mer-pups."

* * *

 **And done! Okay, so this is actually going to be three chapters long... I thought I could finish it at two chapters, but it's definitely a longer idea than I thought. Ah well.**

 **Please let me know what you think of this chapter. And as for the scars on Rocky's leg, I will be writing a story explaining that at a later time. THAT should be much shorter- like an actual one shot, but I'll see. Just know I'll be writing that story.**

 **Until next (and I do believe last) chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all! So I thought this would be the last chapter, but it is broken into two chapters- see the A/N below.**

 **Please enjoy! I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Conqueror**

 **Chapter 3**

"Wait a minute... did you say _mer-pups?"_ Everest and Tracker asked at the same time, their jaws slacked. "I thought that was just a legend!"

Rocky shook his head no. "Trust me, Chase said the exact same thing. For a loooooong time. But Zuma and Skye were actually the ones who proved that it wasn't a story. It was real... all of it was real. Puplantis, the mer tails, everything."

The husky was amazed, and a little jealous that her friends got to experience such a magnificent moment. As for Tracker, he was still trying to wrap his ears around what he had just heard.

"Wow... that's amazing... but what does that have to do with Zuma?" Everest asked, looking to Zuma to hopefully answer. Sadly, the quivering chocolate lab didn't reply.

Rocky sat down and let out a huge sigh, looking at his scars. "Well, I think it's all of it, really. And I'm thinking that's what had Zuma so shaken up in his nightmare."

"I don't know what would be so scary- Zuma loves the water!" Rubble said, not really following. "And he and Skye were so excited when they got to swim with them and everything!"

Chase, on the other hand, was thinking about something. He was piecing together something that was bothering him since they all returned from Puplantis. _'I didn't think too much of it myself- shoot, I barely believed it! But Zuma had been acting funny... it was like, he was almost... relieved we were getting out of there. But I thought it was because he didn't look too good? But then, I thought he was excited about seeing the Mama Mer-Pup and the bab- waaaaaiiiit. Wait, wait, that incident! Is that really it?'_

"I know, but..." Taking a deep breath, Rocky started over.

"Guys, you already know about this." He pointed to the main five pups, before turning to Everest and Tracker. "For you two, here's what happened."

Rocky explained the entire story, starting with the discovery of the mer-pup moon. Everest raised her paw, cutting Rocky short.

"Wait, let me make sure I'm following you. So you guys and the captain were out on the beach, and then you all told the story of the mer-pup. And I'm guessing Chase had a hard time believing it, so Zuma and Skye went out to prove it was real. Is that about right?"

Rocky nodded. Tracker tilted his head. "Mer-pups really do exist? Wow, eso es asombroso! That's amazing! But, I'm still confused, amigos. That sounds like buena memoria, a good memory. Why is Zuma still so sad?"

Zuma had finally poked his head out by this point, but wasn't looking at anyone. He still wasn't ready to talk, and if he were being honest, he felt sick to his stomach. He let out a soft whimper and rested his head. Rocky smiled warmly at him before he continued, leaving his paw atop his head for some support.

"So our mission was to rescue the trapped baby mer-pup. That was how Zuma and Skye ended up with their merp pup powers in the first place. We were able to find her, trapped in an old pirate ship. Zuma did manage to get her out unharmed, and Skye carried her out."

Everest took another look at his scars, then her sad aqua friend. "I'm assuming this is where things went south, right?"

Except for Tracker and Zuma, everyone nodded. "VERY south." Rubble added.

"What happened? Qué ha pasado?" Tracker wondered, hating all the suspense. It was Chase who answered his question.

"Zuma wanted to take a quick look around the old ship, which we didn't think too much off. It's not very often we get to see things like that, well, at least, at the time." He sighed heavily.

"He swam back under, but that's when the ship lost whatever footing it was resting on and slid down deeper under the water. Zuma was shaken up, but he seemed unharmed. He called us to see if we could help him get out, and Rocky was the one who ended up diving under water to find him."

"Wait, Rocky?" Tracker asked, shocked. "But amigo, you hate water!"

"Yeah... trust me, I've never been so terrified of water in my life. Still am, frankly, and I don't care what ANY PUP says- you'd have to knock me out to get me to Katie's now!" Rocky declared. Everyone laughed and shook their heads.

"Nah, we'll just leave it to Ryder. If you smell bad enough, he'll get you in that bath." Rubble giggled. Rocky rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"So Rocky, what happened next?" Everest brought the conversation back. Rocky tapped his chin as he tried to remember where he'd left off, unconsciously rubbing Zuma's head as he did. Everest caught the little display of affection and smiled a little.

 _'That's really sweet for him to do that. I think Zuma's really apricating it right now. Poor guy... what an ordeal...'_

"Uhhh, where was I... oh, yeah. It was pitch black dark and I was freaking out, but I had to keep going. I was the only other pup with mer powers and I was already in the water, which is why I went to get him."

"Wait, wait. I'm confused on one thing." Everest sat up. "Zuma, didn't you still have your mer-pup powers? Why couldn't you just swim up to shore?"

Zuma let out a low whine and buried his face in Rocky's side, still not ready to talk. Rocky softy murmured something to him, but Zuma was not moving from his spot. Sensing Everest's concern and sadness, Skye, thankfully, jumped in.

"The power of the mer-pup only lasts until the moon gives way to the rising sun." Skye explained. "Basically, once the moon is gone, so is the mer-pup powers. And... when Rocky jumped in, he didn't realize that the moon was going away."

Tracker looked at his friend in horror. "So... you dived in the water... without your powers?"

Rocky looked at Tracker and grinned a little, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah... uh, yeah." he chuckled nervously. "I really didn't notice that. Not until the last possible second, anyways."

"And if you lost your powers mid dive, and Zuma was still underwater, then-" Everest gasped in sheer horror, her eyes widened and her paw over her mouth. "Oh my gosh... Z-Zuma, pups..."

Rocky saw the realization wash over her and nodded grimly, hugging poor Zuma tightly. Tracker caught on about a fraction of a second later, and he looked around at each of his pup pals, his eyes wide with horror, too. "Amigos... that can't be..."

"Zuma lost his, too. And he was trapped and drowning since he didn't have his pup pack with him." he confirmed softly. "We almost lost him... and I almost died, too."

At this point, Zuma wasn't able to hold back his tears any longer. He scrunched his eyes tight, tears spilling from the corners as his face stayed pressed against Rocky's side. He didn't want to remember that horrifying feeling... not ever again...

* * *

 _Zuma didn't realize until it was FAR too late that he was no longer a mer-pup._

 _As the ship crashed and rolled, he bounced around, hitting his head and back a few times. Scared out of his mind, he tried to cover his head to avoid further damage._

 _Finally, the ship stopped falling. But most of the interior had grown weaker from the sudden movements. Zuma opened his eyes slowly, looking around as the water bubbled cleared away._

 _"W-woah, dude... that was crazy! I better call Wyder for help- huh?"_

 _Suddenly, Zuma heard a loud creaking sound. Not planning on sticking around to investigate that loud creaking noise, he moved towards the door, trying to push the old thing open so he could free himself. But it wouldn't budge. He pushed harder, but it still wouldn't budge._

 _Zuma swam about the interior of the captian's quarters, trying desperately to find a way out, but finding none. He was definitely trapped, and the creaking and cracking sounds were not helping his anxiety any._

 _"Cwud, I'm stuck!" Zuma tapped his pup tag. "Hello? Hello! Wyder! Anyone? Help me, I'm stuck inside the old ship!" he yelled, hoping his signal was strong enough at least one pup could hear him._

 _"Hello? Wyder? Chase? Anyone?! Guys, help! I'm twapped!"_

 _And then, it happened. Zuma felt his legs get all tingly, and his lungs felt were slowly being compressed, making it hard to breathe at the depth he was in. He began to feel woozy, and the dark interior wouldn't stop spinning._

 _'Wh-what's happening... to me...? I... I don't... feel good... my head...'_

 _Before Zuma had any time to figure out where the sudden seasick onslaught came from, he heard a louder cracking sound. He glanced up, but had no time to properly react as a large beam that was holding up part of the ceiling completely came down, falling on Zuma's mer tail and one of his paws, pinning him down tightly to the ground._

 _"W-Wyder! Please help me! I'm twapped and... and I can't... move!"_

* * *

"Oh, Zuma..." Everest felt tears come to her eyes herself. To think that one of her more happy and fun loving friends went through something that traumatic... no wonder he wanted to forget about it. _'That must've been so terrifying! Poor Zuma, and Rocky's being so strong for him... they all are. They acted like nothing was wrong!'_

"I don't really know what I was thinking, to be honest." Rocky heard a small sniffle below him but continued, giving Zuma whatever time he needed before he told his part of the story.

"Ryder gave me a direct order not to go under, not until we had a plan and we knew where Zuma was. Skye warned me the mer moon would be gone soon. Heck, Chase was darn near ready to drag me out by the scuff of my neck- I've never seen him so angry in all my life. And I... I never felt so angry like that, either."

Tracker and Everest looked at their defacto leader for confirmation. They never saw Chase break his professional demeanor before, either, and to hear that it happened made this already crazy story seem more insane.

"... he's not lying." Chase finally said after a long pause. He looked ashamed as he thought back to how he handled that situation. "Me and Rocky were both at each other's necks, yelling, growling, the works. It wasn't helping any, but... I was just so angry at him! Ryder pulled me aside, and I was mad at him, too. I was just angry at everything. That was how Rocky slipped away and dove underwater to get Zuma, even after Skye's warning."

Marshall moved closer to Chase, resting his head on his shoulder. "That was scary..." he whispered. " I never saw Rocky so angry, and it scared the heck out of me. Like, scared me for days afterward... and I've seen Chase angry before, but he was just so mad... I didn't know what to do..."

"Ah, Marshall..." Chase nuzzled his best friend. "I'm sorry for scaring you guys like that."

Rubble scooted closer to Skye, huddled in his yellow blanket. "It seriously was! There was a lot of stuff going on, and we were yelling at one another! Even Ryder was yelling, and THAT was scary!" he whimpered. "I don't ever want to see that again!"

"W-What happened after that?" Tracker asked shakily, not sure if he wanted to know at this point. This was a crazy time for his amigos he realized, and he was beginning to feel as if he had been there and witnessed it himself. It was a very confusing feeling.

As for Everest, she was still trying to take in all she'd heard up until now. Her head was spinning, and she made no attempt to hide the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. She felt sick inside, and as she looked at Zuma, who was shaking and quietly sobbing himself, she wondered if her original idea would be of any help.

 _'I've lived on my own for years, but not once had I ever thought about death like that. But Zuma and Rocky had to face it head on! How is someone supposed to deal with something like that? How did he deal with his constant nightmares after all that?'_

Rocky's eyes were watering himself, despite him trying valiantly to keep it together, at least for Zuma's sake. But he felt his side grow damp and he knew it wouldn't be too much longer under he lost a few tears himself. Clearing his throat, he continued.

"After I dove under, I started noticing that I couldn't see as well as I could when I was a mer pup. Breathing was harder, too. It really didn't hit me that I was reverting back to normal, not until I got all the way to the ship and saw Zuma..."

* * *

 _Rocky was so heated! How dare Chase tell him to wait?! Zuma was calling for help, and all that stupid police idiot could think about was following orders?! Forget it!_

 _'I'm getting him out! Forget about Chase!' Rocky thought angrily as he swam as hard and fast as his tiny pup body could manage. He felt tense, his paws balled up, but now was not the time._

 _Zuma came first. He would have to deal with Ryder and Chase giving him an earful later._

 _As Rocky swam deeper under the water, his vision began blurring a little. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his vision to clear lest he run into a boulder or something more... alive._

 _'No, no! I can't give up! Zuma needs my help! Get it together, Rocky!'_

 _Rocky forced his body to keep pushing, his mer tail working a bit overtime. Still, he felt as if he were so far away, and who knew how badly hurt Zuma could be?!_

 _'Oooh… my head... what's going on..._ ' _Rocky groaned as his head felt very, very heavy. There was a slight moment where he felt like his lungs were about to give in and burst open, and he paused, trying to get everything back to equilibrium._

 _'Okay, just... just calm down! Ryder said that Zuma's signal was coming from a ship... I have to find it! I need to keep it together, at least for him...'_

 _After about five minutes, Rocky felt the worst of his symptoms pass, and he resumed swimming._ _But it didn't take long before they began to rear its ugly head once more, adding nausea to the list._ _The eco pup swallowed it down and kept swimming down, down, before he used a flashlight he'd swiped from Ryder's gear to see where he was._

 _'T-There! That's the o-only ship I-'_

 _Rocky gasped, his eyes widening with fear. It was an old ship, but it looked completely destroyed. Was Zuma trapped under all that wood and debris? Was he... gone?_

 _'Oh no... it can't be...' He scrubbed his eyes, taking in the scene. 'N-no, he's alive! He called us! He needs our help and that's just what I'm going to do!' Ignoring the sadness threatening to swallow his heart whole, or the ever growing sickness building in his stomach, Rocky forced his tired body one last time and swam over to the wreckage._

 _"Zuma! I'm here! Answer me! It's Rocky! ZUMA!"_

* * *

"Shhhhh. It's okay, Zuma." Rocky soothed his sobbing friend. He had to stop the story mid way when Zuma's sobs became too much to ignore any longer. He rubbed his friend's head in an attempt to calm him. "It's okay. I'm almost done, alright?"

Zuma didn't reply, and he wouldn't pry his face from Rocky's chest. He didn't seem to realize he was crying in front of the others, but it was fine by them. They weren't doing a very good job holding it together, either.

"R-Rocky... if you don't-" Everest sniffed a little and wiped her eyes. "If you don't want to finish this, it-it can wait."

"I have to." Rocky said quietly, a few loose tears rolling down his cheek. He stared at Zuma and squeezed him just a little tightly, still gently rubbing his head. "You both need to know. And we all need to put this to rest for good. Especially him."

He pulled Zuma's blanket around him, and Zuma pressed himself against Rocky more, holding onto him for dear life. ' _'I'm sowwy! I'm sowwy, I should've said something, Wocky isn't supposed to be doing this, I- I should've said something!'_

"Take your time, Zuma. I'm not leaving you. We're all here for you, you understand?" Rocky kept rubbing Zuma's head before he lowered his paw and began rubbing his back, keeping his voice low and gentle. "It's okay... it's going to be okay, I promise you."

Zuma was forcing himself to keep his sobs under control, and Rocky knew it. It wasn't supposed to be like this... he shouldn't even be thinking about this! And why was everyone crying, too?! It wasn't fair!

 _'I am such an idiot! I'm making evewyone else sad over a stupid, stupid dweam! So why... can't I stop cwying? What's wrong with me?'_

Rocky glanced up at everyone apologetically. "Guys, I'm sorry. But... Zuma needs this. Can we-"

"Do you have to ask?" Rubble said, his smile long gone and his earlier upbeat attitude falling apart. He looked at the others. "Chase, can you finish the story? Give Rocky and Zuma some time?"

"Guys, it's really not a big deal." Everest insisted, a little upset that they were trying to push this whole story thing. Zuma was clearly a wreck and he needed them more, the stupid story could wait! "Me and Tracker can-"

 **"No."** Chase spoke up. He looked at Everest, a firm expression set on his young face.

"No. I... listen, Everest. Even though Zuma should be the one telling this, it's been hurting him to the point he doesn't _want_ to talk about it. And to be honest..."

Chase sighed heavily. "We were no better. We tried to forget about it just as much as he did, playing along with him and acting like he was fine, that he was telling the truth. I knew something was up, too. Especially after we went to Puplantis. Ryder knew, and he told me to talk to him, but... I guess... I never knew what to say or how to approach it."

Everest was a bit taken aback by the admission, although she had a slight, slight suspension that this was bothering all the pups more than they originally wanted to admit. "But, Chase... Zuma's a mess. He needs all of us right now. Can't the story wait until he's calmed down?"

"I know, Everest! Don't you think I know that?!" Chase snapped. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry... I..."

Everest waved it off, not feeling offended in the slightest. "Pups... this must've been hard, huh." she said, unsure if there was anything else that could help. Chase just shook his head.

"You have no idea..."

* * *

 **Annnnnd done!**

 **O-kay, so this is going on four chapters- the first two chapters alone were over 5200 words each, but this chapter was close to 6100 words and I felt that it was kind of... rambling. So I broke it into two, but there may be a fifth one after these two. I'll see.**

 **Anyways, please let me know what you think, and I'll do my best to wrap it up with the next chapter.**

 **Until next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello all! Here is the second to last chapter.**

 **Please enjoy! I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

 **Conqueror**

 **Chapter 4**

"You have no idea..."

Rocky was still consoling Zuma, and the others were just lost on what to do. Marshall was wiping his eyes constantly, Skye was looking at Zuma and Rocky with a sad expression, and Rubble was laying there, quiet as a mouse.

"Guys... amigos." Tracker finally spoke up. "Do you think we should get Ryder? Maybe... maybe this might be too much for all of us to handle."

Chase adminadly shook his head no, slamming his paw into the ground. "He needs to rest. They all need to rest. We can do this... just like we've always done."

"But this is a really big deal, Chase." Marshall said, doubt laced in his already shaky voice. "I mean, that day... y-you remember it, too. It's been eating at him all this time, what if we can't fix it?"

"Don't think like that!" Chase shot up suddenly, unable to hide his ever cracking voice. He felt cool tears rolling down his cheeks, but decided to ignore it. _'I can't do this now! I need to keep it together! Zuma is what matters!'_ he tried to rationalize his own swirling emotions.

"You know why it's been eating at him?! Because we've been horrible friends to Zuma! We were just as bothered with that whole mess, and we knew that Zuma hadn't been himself for a long while after it! We kept pushing it under the rug, like it's supposed to just disappear, and Zuma's no better! He knew he wasn't alright and he didn't say a SINGLE WORD!"

By this point, Rocky was glaring daggers at Chase, and Zuma had stopped crying rather abruptly, his eyes tiredly staring at Chase as he semi-listened to the police pup's yelling. Chase looked at Zuma, and slowly realized he was making the situation a bit worse than what it was. His ears flattened in shame against his head, and he opened and closed his mouth as he tried to find words to explain what he'd really meant.

"Z-Zuma... wait, I-I didn't-"

"Chase is right." Everest cut him off. She looked at all her friends before shaking her head. "Look pups... I'm getting that this was a good memory that went real bad real fast. And... if me and Tracker hadn't come over tonight, you would have kept living in that fantasy that everything was going to be okay. But it's not. It won't get better unless we talk about everything and get it all out there. And I do mean _EVERYTHING."_

Wiping her eyes dry, she focused on the mixed breed. "Rocky, I know you're upset, too. And I know this is hard, but forget what I said earlier. We have to talk about this. If Zuma isn't up to talk yet, I understand, but... it sounds like this is something that can't keep going on like this. It'll eat you guys up, and I don't like seeing the pups I view as family suffering!"

Rocky didn't say anything for a few moments. He took in Zuma's slightly heavier breathing and his tear-streaked cheeks, and brushed his face before he finally nodded. Everest had a good point, and he couldn't argue it down.

 _'I don't know if I should feel angry at the others for noticing and never approaching Zuma, or more of a jerk for not doing something BEFORE Chase told Ryder about it! Argh, or maybe I should be angry at Zuma for keeping this all inside for this long! He probably hadn't had a decent sleep in weeks, probably had some horrifying nightmare or night terrors, and he still kept acting like everything was fine! How?! How did we all let the ball drop on this so bad?!'_

"...yeah." The mixed pup grunted. He was getting angry at this whole thing. None of it should have happened! They should be asleep, having a sleepover after months of not having the whole gang together, Everest and Tracker should be getting to know each other, and then morning should come and a new day starts! This is supposed to be a fun occasion, not a crying fest!

 _'Why? WHY?! Urgh, I'm so-'_

"W-Wo...cky?" Zuma's broken voice cut through his dark haze. He snapped out of his thoughts, and looked into a pair of wet, red, and oddly innocent eyes of his best friend

"I'm sowwy… p-please don't be mad?" he begged him. He'd felt Rocky's chest rising and falling faster, heard him trying to breathe through his nose in a attempt not to snap, and his paws were digging into his fur and skin. He didn't want him to lose his temper, not over something like this.

And just like that, Rocky deflated. He knew his anger was pointless and definitely not helping.

Zuma was in pain and needed someone to be there with him, to help him find peace and move on from that day. The others were in pain, and more than likely, just as guilt-ridden as he was for failing to be there for a fellow member and friend. _'Everest is right. Everything needs to be said, everything we've been holding onto. Its why we never moved on in the first place, why Zuma probably had so many nights like this, alone...'_

Rocky offered a small smile and nuzzled Zuma's cheek. " No, I... I'm not mad. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." he apologized.

Chase finally closed the gap between him and the pair of pups, and nuzzled the back of Zuma's head as well. "None of us are mad at you, Zuma. We're just really worried... and really sorry for letting you suffer like this." he added, struggling to keep his voice under control.

Zuma looked over at Chase, unsure of what to say, and caught a quick glimpse of the sadness etched onto the faces of the others. _'Chase is never this... affectionate. Not to anyone but Mawshall, and even then, he puts on this fwont and acts tough, like nothing bothers him a lot. He... he must be wowwied about me... they all awe. I'm causing such a mess...'_

Chase decided to sit by Rocky and Zuma, so Marshall pulled his blanket closer to Rubble and Tracker, leaning his head on Rubble's side. Everest motioned for Skye and Tracker to come closer to her, and both pups didn't hesitate to do so, making an already close knit circle even closer.

"See, Zuma?" Rocky whispered to him. "All of us are here for you. We're all going to put this to rest for you, so you will never have another nightmare again. Promise."

Zuma just nodded, too overwhelmed and a bit exhausted from crying as he was to verbally respond. He was fighting to keep his eyes open- being snuggled under his blanket and close to his best friend with his paw was still stroking his back in that same rhythmic motion, it was just... soothing. Warm. Alive.

 _'He's alive, Zuma... he's alive, he's alive... Wocky… he's alive...'_ he chanted in his head.

"I guess the story must go on, huh?" Chase half- heartedly suggested. He'd honestly had enough for tonight, and he just wanted to crawl under his blanket and forget about it. He could almost bet the others felt like he was feeling, too.

Everest and Tracker nodded, the latter's ears flattening against his head- this couldn't end very well. "Qué pasó? What happened after Rocky went for Zuma?

Chase sighed heavily. "Ryder gave Marshall and Skye direct orders to be prepared with medical supplies, his ambulance, blankets, everything. Me and Rubble were told to be on standby after we got a half-garbled message from Rocky. It was very static-y, all we heard was Zuma and trapped before we lost the signal. Ryder didn't waste any time, he dove in to try and find them."

* * *

 _Zuma was limp, his right front paw a bloody mess from getting trapped the wrong way, and his hind legs either broken or really sprained, Rocky didn't know which._

 _It wasn't like he faired any better. He couldn't breathe! Not as well as he was when he was a mer-pup. It occurred to him he was no longer a mer pup, but he was running on pure adrenaline and he could care less._

 _All he knew was that he had to get them out of that ship before they were both lost to the sea._ _Everything else could wait._

* * *

"We had no choice but to wait..." Rubble finally spoke after being quiet for almost an hour. "We didn't know what was happening, Ryder was trying to keep everyone under control but he was scared, too! We just didn't know what to do..."

* * *

 _Rocky quickly surveyed his surroundings. Zuma was trapped under a beam that, on a regular day, would need at least two or three pups to lift. But he was on his own, and losing energy by the minute._

 _Spotting what seemed to be an old, rusted sword stabbed into the wood, Rocky used his front paws to pull it free. Unsure of what he was doing, he started whacking the beam with the thing._

 _Of course, Rocky knew that was a terrible idea, and chuckled the useless thing away. He knew he had no choice- he could see that Zuma no longer had a mer pup tail, meaning he was unconscious and drowning. Rocky swam in front of Zuma, planting his legs on the beam. Using whatever strength he had left in him, he pushed on the beam._

 _'Come on...! Come ON!' he grunted as he strained his legs. They felt like they would break any moment, but still, he pushed. 'I can... can do this! I have to do this!'_

* * *

"I didn't know what I was going to do or how I thought I was going to save him... but I remembered something Ryder told us once." Rocky recalled. He seemed fond of it, too. Chase looked at him, an equally fond expression on his own face.

"You remember that, don't you."

"Yeah. He said that we'd never lost a member before, and we weren't going to now. That's what kept me going. I wasn't about to lose Zuma."

* * *

 _Finally, finally, Rocky heard a small creak. He smiled in relief before he quickly resumed his task and pushed even harder. Soon, he'd managed to get a gap just big enough for Zuma to wiggle through, if he were able to move._

 _'I've got... to push a little more... to pull him... out...' Rocky thought, panting heavily. He was fairly certain his body would give out before he could get him, but he wasn't about to lose a friend now. Not now!_

 _Rocky kept pushing, ignoring the screaming pain in his legs and lungs, and the throbbing sensation in his skull, until he was able to get a gap just big enough to pull Zuma out. But now, he had a new problem._

 _He would have to use his claw to pull Zuma out, since trying to reach him would mean dropping the beam, and possibly crushing Zuma to death as well. But barking out his pup tool would cause him to inhale water! And he couldn't afford to pass out OR drown!_

 _Running out of air and time, Rocky shut his eyes tight and opened his mouth, quickly barking out his claw before he swallowed any more water. He'd have to hold it- if that much seawater went down his throat, he was a goner!_

 _Once his claw was out, Rocky bent over backwards and tilted himself to the right. He struggled to do his crazy acrobatics while holding up the beam AND trying to grab Zuma's paw._

 _'C-Come on... just a... a little... further...'_ _Finally, he got it! With a swift flip, he tugged Zuma free and quickly let the beam drop._

 _'I've got you... thank goodness, Zuma... I've got you...' Rocky chanted in his head as he held onto the unconscious lab for dear life. The ship began shaking, and Rocky knew he had to hurry before they would all be lost to the depths of the sea._

* * *

"To be honest, that water scared the life out of me. I wanted to swim up so bad, just... just apologize to Ryder and take whatever punishment he'd have for me. Once the adrenaline died down, I was done... and for just a split second, I felt... almost relieved. I didn't have to move, I felt... light and free..."

* * *

 _Carrying a limp pup was more taxing than Rocky thought, and having inhaled water and swimming and all his symptoms hit him all at once made things even harder. Still, he attempted to move his legs and get Zuma and himself out of the crumbling ship, at the very least._

 _'I-If Ryder... can get down here... at least we... we won't be dead in this... this stupid thing...' Rocky thought to himself as he forced his body one last time to get himself and Zuma out of that rickety old ship._

 _Rocky, being the clever little eco pup he was, used broken pieces of the ship as springs, pushing his body from one broken board to the next, in order to save as much strength as he could for the final swim. There was a broken out window he had seen when he first managed to get inside the ship, and he knew it would be big enough for them both to fit._

 _'I... I'm so... so tired... d-don't think I... I can do this...' Rocky thought tiredly as he felt his legs ready to quit. Still, he steeled himself, focusing on one goal- getting to that broken out window hole. 'B-but I... I have to... get him out...'_

 _Tightening his grip on Zuma's body, Rocky kept swimming/leaping from broken board to broken board, until he was close to the window hole. There were no more broken boards he could use as springs, so he knew he'd have to swim the rest, or attempt to launch himself as close as he could. Either way, he was exhausted, and wondered if he would have the strength left in him._

 _Zuma's head lightly bopped against his, and Rocky remembered why he was straining his body to the maximum. Why he was surrounding himself with his phobia, why he broke both Chase and Ryder's orders. He felt new energy coursing through him, and he tightened his grip on Zuma as he prepared to take one final leap to freedom._

 _'Zuma... I don't care... how tired I am. I don't... don't care how terrified I am. You matter... too much to me, and... and I'm not... about to... to let you die!'_

 _On the last board, Rocky pushed his body upward with all the strength he had left in him. It gave him the momentum he needed to swim, grab at the hole, and propel himself and Zuma out of that ship._

 _'I... I did it... I really... did it!' Rocky cheered in his head. It was short lived, as he heard a monstrous cracking and creaking noise, followed by a sinking sound. He glanced over his shoulder, and watched as the ship sunk even deeper into the darkness of the sea, breaking into pieces as the ocean floor absorbed part of it's body into its sandy depths, and the rest of it tumbled down the slope._

 _'W-Wow... any longer... and... I would have died with Zuma... in that place...' Rocky thought as he tried to focus on getting as close to the surface as he could. But after a few seconds, Rocky's body finally gave in, the adrenaline rush gone._

 _'I... I can't... I'm too tired...' The grey pup lost his grip on Zuma, but was too exhausted to swim after him. His entire body felt like spaghetti, and his head was about to explode. He couldn't hold his breath any longer- he wasn't even sure how long he'd held it in the first place._

 _'I... I'm sorry... Zuma... I did my best... but I... I guess... it wasn't enough... to save both of us...' Rocky watched as air bubbled left his lips, and felt his eyes slowly drifting closed as the sea water flowed down his throat and filled his lungs._

 _'... Ryder...' Rocky closed his eyes completely as the water took him away. There was no way he'd just seen him... maybe he was just wishing..._

* * *

"Ryder found Zuma first. He was lifeless, and since he was down there so long, we thought we..." Rubble trailed off, but Everest knew what he was going to say. "He found Rocky like, ten minutes later. He wasn't moving, either... it was too scary to watch..."

"Trying to bring them back was the hardest thing I'd ever done..." Marshall piped up, his voice trembling. He tugged his blanket tightly around him. "Zuma just wouldn't wake up! And R-Rocky... he... he was just delirious... he was calling out for us, for Zuma... and I didn't know what I..."

Skye placed a paw on Marshall's head for comfort as the dally broke down, unable to further explain what he'd have to do to save his friends.

"Ryder kept it together until we got them both to Katie's." she continued. "She was able to help Marshall bring Zuma back, and Rocky came around a day or so later, but then they got sick. Like, really, really sick... it was just... horrible. Seeing them, hearing them... it was horrible."

"It was hard. Marshall was doing everything he could just to get them to wake up, and for a time, we didn't... think they would ever wake..."

Everest looked at Tracker, who was curled in a ball, whimpering as he tried- and failed- to rein in his tears. She pulled a blanket over him and patted his head, and he looked up at her gratefully.

"What happened after all that?" she asked quietly. "What about Ryder?"

"Ryder..." Chase bit his bottom lip. "Ryder wasn't taking everything well. He was crying, he was angry... he was just as scared and broken as we were until Rocky finally opened his eyes. Even then, Ryder wasn't himself. He kept us all together in the room Zuma and Rocky were staying in, and there were times where... he'd just beg for them to make it another night, and... we just didn't know..."

Everest nodded, still stroking Tracker's back. After what she just heard, she began to understand why Zuma was having nightmare- or nightmares, even- and why he tried so hard to forget it happened at all. She was still trying to process everything, and glanced sadly up at Marshall, who was sniffling in his blanket, then Zuma, who was pretty much out of it almost entirely.

"Zuma... why didn't you tell them?" Everest wondered. "This isn't some small thing that you could just forget and hope it disappears- you went through a really hard and scary ordeal!"

Zuma's eyes started to close halfway. He was so, so exhausted... could this just wait until the next time? He wanted to sleep- he felt so warm... Rocky was really nice and soft to sleep on, he had to admit. "I... I didn't... I thought it would... go 'way..." he slurred quietly. "Jus... jus want'..."

Rocky rubbed his back and nuzzled the top of his head, showing more affection to Zuma and around the other pups than anyone could ever remember. "Hang on just a little longer, Zuma." He gently shook him awake.

"Can you tell us what happened? In your nightmare?"

"It wasn't just one nightmawe… it was evewy single time I..." Zuma felt like a limp noodle as Everest reached out and slowly pried him from Rocky's chest. He weakly whined, whimpered, even tried to growl at her, but Everest wasn't shaken, especially since she could feel the exhaustion in her friend. He wasn't really putting up much of a fight.

"I... f-failed... W-Wocky… h-he was... I couldn't..." Zuma's eyes were struggling to stay open. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore. "I'm sowwy… I..."

"Shhhh. Just lay down, Zuma." Everest calmly yet gently ordered. His head swimming and spinning, the weak and exhausted aqua pup allowed her to maneuver him onto a nearby vacant pillow next to Chase. She turned him sideways so that he still had clear view of his friends, and pulled his blanket about him.

"I don't get it!" Rocky tried to argue, wondering why he was the only one getting irritated by what was happening. "What is the point of putting him-"

"Rocky, step back. Let me do this." she told him firmly. She began to rub Zuma's stomach slowly, getting the pup to relax as much as possible. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let him fall asleep until we can truly put this behind us for good. Everyone else, just stay around him, okay? Make sure he can see you."

"Yeah, but-"

Chase got up and walked over to him, placing a paw on his shoulder. "Rocky. Let Everest do whatever it is she's doing. It could help him... it could help all of us for real this time."

Rocky was still confused and a little irked, but huffed under his breath as he did as he was told. He helped Chase set up the pillows before one at a time, Chase, Marshall, Rubble, and Skye pulled their blankets with them and laid down almost atop one another. Tracker was close to Everest already; he just curled up into a ball under his blanket.

"Zuma, I'm going to ask you this again, you understand?" Everest said, keeping her voice as steady and soft as possible. Zuma mumbled something incoherent, but for the most part, he forced himself to listen to her voice.

"Seriously, Everest? What are you doing?" Rocky asked again, more annoyed. Everest looked at Rocky and offered a confident smile.

"You'll see. Just have a little faith in me, okay?"

* * *

 **And complete! Just one more to go... whew. I almost gave up working on this story, but I'm glad I didn't. I like this one a lot!**

 **I don't have too much to say, really. Please let me know what you all thought, and I'll have the last one up soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello all! We are at the end of the road! This was fun little mini project to work on, and while I still need work in writing these types of stories, I'm happy with this one.**

 **Anyways, please enjoy! I own nothing, per usual.**

* * *

 **Conqueror**

 **Chapter 5**

"Just have a little faith in me, okay?"

Rocky was worried- Zuma was constantly mentioning something about him, and besides what he sort of told him, Rocky was clueless. And what on earth was Everest _doing?!_

 _'Maybe... maybe it really is Death that scares him. But shouldn't death scare everyone? Well, it doesn't scare me- its not like we're dying anytime soon, right? But then... did I really die in his nightmare? Did it really have something to do with what happened that night? Why can't he just say so already?!'_

"Zuma, what about Rocky?" she asked. "Did something bad happen to him? What are you seeing?"

Zuma's eyes fell completely closed as Everest continued to rub his side and belly. Rocky stared at his face- Zuma looked so peaceful now, surely he wouldn't be having any more-

"N-Nrgh… W-Wocky…" Rocky chewed his bottom lip, the urge to shake Zuma awake bubbling within his gut. He reached out to do just that, but Everest put her paw out to stop him, still rubbing his side and belly.

Rocky growled under his breath- he loved Everest, she was more or less like a motherly figure in a tiny pup body sometimes, but other times- like now- she could be so annoying! _'Everest... I'm trying to not be annoyed, but we need to help him NOW! Oh Zuma, I guess I must've spoken too soon... but he didn't want to sleep before, so why would that be different now.'_

"What's happening?" Everest asked again, a little louder. Zuma let out a low moan, his face slowly twisting in pain. The other pups watched, their expressions varying from sadness to worry to guilt. It didn't take long for that feeling to multiply ten fold.

"... I... n-no, W-Wocky… s-stop..." he breathed. "P-Please... c-can't... breathe..."

Everest frowned- that sounded bad. Really bad. "Zuma?" she asked more urgently. "What's happening? What about Rocky? Is he hurt? What's going on?"

The chocolate lab's chest picked up as his breathing increased. Everest realized that Zuma was actually being drawn into his nightmare from before, and was beginning to question if her idea was the right one. But she wasn't ready to give up yet. Seeing Zuma's paw twitch gave her a new idea, one that she hoped would snap her poor friend out of it.

"Rocky, listen." she instructed softly. "Take Zuma's paw and don't let it go."

He mentally rolled his eyes and scoffed under his breath. _'Seriously didn't need you to tell me that, but... fine, Everest. Fine.'_

Once he did, he ignored any annoyance or dissatisfaction he had against Everest. Zuma was gripping his paw kind of tight... a bit TOO tight, but he would do anything for his friend. Rocky was worried all over again. "Zuma..."

"Zuma? Zuma, stay with me." Everest moved her paw to his head, slowly rubbing circles. She had one more chance, and after that, she would have to wake him before his nightmare gave him a heart attack or something. "We're right here. Rocky's holding your paw. Breathe, Zuma. Tell me what's going on."

"I-I'm... so'y… Wocky, d-don't..." Zuma was growing more and more unsettled, his chest rapidly rising as he began gasping for air. Everest looked at her friends, then back down at Zuma. That was enough. He needed to wake up.

"Zuma? Zuma! It's okay, Rocky's okay!" she cried, lightly slapping his cheeks. "Come on, open your eyes! Wake up!"

Try as he might, Zuma was far too trapped into his nightmare to hear anyone. All he could see was water, dark, murky and filling his lungs. It tasted like blood, like licking a metal pole or something. All he could feel was the icy grip of his once alive best friend dragging him deeper into those depths, taking away his oxygen, his life. He was running of energy.

 _'W-Wocky… stop! Please! I can't breathe... I can't... b-breathe...'_

"No... Wocky, don't... do't do t-this...! Wocky!" Zuma cried out. Chase and Marshall were over in an instant, trying to help Zuma wake up. Rocky pulled away and walked off, so angry his body was shaking. Skye and Rubble looked at each other, unsure of what to do but be there for their friends. Rubble went over to Rocky, and Skye went over to help Zuma wake up.

"Darn it, Everest!" Rocky was frustrated, tired and wanted to give up and go to sleep. "Why did you decide to do this?! Zuma's already gone through this before, what good was it to put him through it AGAIN?!"

Rubble sat down next to him, looking at his friend with a very concerned expression. "Rocky, don't be mad at her. She was just trying to help."

"How in the world is she helping, Rubble?!" Rocky yelled. "Thanks to her, he's reliving it all over again! What kind of plan was that?! We're supposed to make him feel better, but we're HURTING him!"

Rubble stared at Rocky, letting him vent and not saying a word. Eventually, Rocky glanced over his shoulders at the others trying to wake Zuma up and felt guilty. His ears lowered and his body sagged.

"What did I do... I'm the reason why he's suffering like this...?" he thought sadly, mostly to himself. Rubble felt disappointed Rocky was beating himself up so much, and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Hey, come on Rocky. It's not your fault and you know it."

"... I... I don't... know..." Rocky whispered. "Maybe Everest... knew what she was doing. I don't know why I was so angry at her, either. I don't understand this!"

Jerking his head over to their friends, Rubble smiled. "Come on, Rocky. We can help Zuma together, but we need you, too."

Rocky nodded, still uncertain and a little uneasy, but knew Rubble was right. Zuma needed him, he needed all of them. Together, the two pups went over to Zuma, and Rocky took a deep breath. _'For Zuma... we'll make it better for you.'_

"Zuma, wake up. It's me, it's Rocky." Rocky gently shook his best friend awake. "Wake up! Zuma! Zuma, please!"

Orange-ish eyes finally snapped open, and the little pup sat up, his chest heaving as he finally began to get a grip on the reality around him. His head was all over the place, and his chest and throat felt tight as he struggled to inhale air.

 _'So weal... all of it... my chest huwts...Wocky... why was it you? Why was it you?'_

"Zuma! It's okay, you're awake! Breathe!"

"Come on, Zuma! You've gotta breathe, man!"

Gasping for air, small paws grasped at his chest. This version of his nightmare was too, too real, worse than any of them. He felt that icy water all around him, seeping in his skin, flowing in his lungs, _killing him like he killed Rocky-_

"ZUMA!" Rocky yelled as loudly as possible. It seemed to work, as slowly, the rescue pup focused on Rocky- Rocky was alive. He knew this, he felt it, but his head was taking so long to register it! His breathing took its time to return to normal, and his head felt less fuzzy and confused.

He was awake. He was home, safe and warm in the Lookout. His friends, all of them, they were here.

"G-Guys..." Zuma quietly mumbled. Seven worried faces looked back at him, surrounding him, being there, but... Rocky... he...

"Wocky…is t-that... you?" Relieved that Zuma was finally with them, Rocky nodded. "Y-Yeah... I'm here. We're here."

"... I don't... feel good..." Zuma whimpered as he laid back and curled into a ball. His paws wrapped around his stomach as he tried once again to calm himself down. "My stomach huwts…"

"Oh, Zuma..." Everest sadly whispered. She brushed Zuma's forehead. He felt a bit sweaty, and he was shaking as well. "It's okay, you're okay. But... we need to talk. You know that, right?"

Zuma nodded and curled tighter. Of course they wanted to know- he just freaked out for a second time tonight. He was ruining the sleepover, majorly, and felt terrible about it. Everest felt pretty guilty for putting the pup through the whole ordeal, especially seeing what it took just to wake him up, and the others were just lost on what to feel or do.

"Come on, Zuma." Chase encouraged. "Everest is right. You should talk to us, please. What's wrong?"

For a moment, Zuma didn't say a word. He stared into space, his head a jumbled mess. What was he supposed to say? How was supposed to say it? What if things didn't get better? What if things never got better?

"Zuma..." Rocky laid down next to him, nudging him a little. Zuma looked up at him, wet-eyed and a bit disoriented.

"Please. I know you didn't want to talk earlier, but now... we really need to know what's been happening. You saw me, in your nightmare. Why? What did I do?"

Zuma whined quietly- _'Wemember, Wocky's alive. Just... just fowget about it. They'we hewe, evewyone's hewe… it's over... tell them. Tell them, Zuma!'_

"...b-blood... thewe was... so much of it..." he muttered. Rocky blinked- did he just say blood? Like, real, red, icky _blood?_ _'Why on earth... did he... see that?'_

"Blood? Why? Did Rocky get hurt?" Everest pressed on. "How did that happen?"

"Because of ME! How else would he have died?! Wocky was DEAD because he saved ME!" Zuma finally exploded. There, he said it. It was done. He couldn't take it back. It was real, out in the open.

No one, not even Everest, expected to hear that at all. She was dumbfounded, and didn't know what to say. Chase and Marshall glanced at one another, Skye had her paw covering her mouth as tears ran down her face, and Rubble and Tracker were sitting there, grim and upset but quiet. Zuma was hyperventaliting, his paw cluching at his chest. Rocky was frozen to the spot.

 _'D-Dead... blood... I was... dead? But how? Why? Zuma, what was going though your head?'_ Rocky asked himself. He tried to reach out to his best friend, tried to comfort him like he did before, but Zuma let out a weird sound and shyed away from him.

"Zuma..." ' _Great, now he's scared of me?'_

"I... I twied to run..." he shakily explained, his eyes watering for what he felt was the tenth time already. He didn't move from his curled up position on the pillow, and was grateful that everyone was there right now- compared to earlier, he didn't want to be alone. "I didn't want to die, b-but I let Wocky d-die and... I twied to..."

"Zuma, where did the blood come from?" Everest wondered. "How did Rocky die because of you?"

"I... t-the... " Zuma did not want to think about the actual cause of death- that was far too graphic to explain again. Chase smiled sadly and placed his paw on Zuma's head.

"Take your time, Zuma." Chase gently whispered. He was feeling sick to his own stomach- had he ever really thought about any of his friends dying before? What would he have done if he'd lost Ryder? Marshall? Rocky? Skye? Any of them? _'What... seriously, how did he do this long, holding this in? He put on such a good act, but how...? How?'_

Zuma closed his eyes, focusing on the feel of Rocky and Chase's paws on his fur. _'They're hewe. This isn't a dweam, it's weal...'_

"It... was after that... accident..." he finally whispered. "I... k-kept having... n-nightmawes… a-and it... it had you in it, Wocky."

"Why?" Rocky got his voice to work. "Why me?"

"B-Because I knew... he came to save me. When I... dwowned…I knew it was him..." Zuma opened his eyes and looked at Rocky. "I was always... in this lake... and... W-Wocky, he..." He swallowed the urge to vomit and looked down at his paws.

"Zuma, please... please." Rocky begged him, nuzzling his head once again. "I don't know what happening to you, and I know you've been fighting this nightmare, or nightmares or whichever, I can't even tell! I just..." He wiped his eyes.

"I'm losing you, Zuma. I'm scared, we're worried, and you're hurting! Just talk to us! Please!"

"I can't! Can't you undewstand that?! I NEVER wanted to talk about it, but you keep making me!" Zuma cried. He tugged on his eyes and shut his eyes tight. "I don't want to make it weal, I-I LOST you, Wocky! I saw you, you were dead and bloody and I... I dwowned... I couldn't... save you, Wocky…"

"Z-Zuma?" Marshall's voice piped up. He was red-eyed from all the crying he was doing for his friend, but he was mostly appalled- he'd had nightmares before, but never something so graphic and... serious. "I-I know... that nightmare, any nightmare... it can be scary. And while I've never had something so... sick and completely horrifying before, I know that talking to someone helps. It gets it out of your head, you know?"

"He's right, Zuma." Rubble agreed. "Sometimes I have them too and they can be so scary! But then I talk to Ryder and sometimes you guys and I feel much better! It doesn't seem as scary when someone is with you, you know? Especially when they give you treats!" Rubble rubbed his stomach and chuckled, earning some small chuckles from Rocky, Chase, Marshall and Skye.

"Same here." Chase smiled. "I... I've had them too. And it can really scare you to death, mess with your head. Trust me, I'm talking from experience. If you keep it in, hold on to it too long, it seems like it's real, like it can't go away and you're just stuck with it until you magically forget about it. But the truth is... you never forget. It just sits quietly in your head until it wants to come back and haunt you."

Rocky listened to everyone's input, thinking to himself. _'I knew after that night, after we both barely made it... I should've checked on him. Yeah, we've all had nightmares, and usually we talk about it with someone else, or Ryder helps us through it. But this is not just something about spiders or water or doctors- Zuma thought I'd died! Even though he'd seen me so may times after... that's what scares him? That's so serious! He blames himself for an accident he had no control over! How do you even help someone with that?'_

Everest places a paw on Zuma's shoulder. "See? We all had nightmares, and no matter how small or how scary it is, we talk to someone because it makes coping or facing it easier. It helps you understand it, and then, once you see its just a bad dream, you can let it go."

Zuma was listening to everyone's stories. He knew they had a point, but it was still hard to open up about it. _'I know they'we wight. I know I need to say this. But... what if...'_

"Hey, Zuma?" Rocky held out his paw to him.

"Would... you feel better if you held my paw? I promise you, that nightmare is not real. I'm right here, okay?"

Zuma slowly reached for it. He felt it- the warmth seeping from Rocky's paw to his own, the soft padding of his underpaw. _'He's alive... I feel it. His paw, it's not all wet and- stop it, Zuma, stop it! He's alive. He's alive, Zuma...'_

"I... I was near this... this lake..." Zuma started again, keeping his attention on Rocky's warm paw. "It was dawk, but I was still able to see. I didn't know where I was or where I needed to go, so... I tried to make my way back."

Rocky felt Zuma squeeze his paw a little, but stayed next to him. Zuma took a deep breath and kept going. "I walked for a little while, until I stepped in... in something... wet. It felt sticky, and I... I don't know why, but I... I thought about chewwy pie and twied to get it off. That's when I wan to the lake to wash it off."

He stopped, grimacing as he remembered the part he was really trying not to. "When I... looked down, I-I saw Wocky… but... he was... dead. His face... was missing an eye, and he..."

Rocky was feeling sick to his stomach as he tried to imagine what that must've been like. "H-He rose out of the water, and... h-half... his body... was ripped away... gone. T-Thewe was b-blood dwipping into the water, and he dwagged me under the diwty, icy water, to that ship... and I couldn't... get away..."

Zuma wiped his eyes. "I was tewwified. I didn't... I couldn't... do anything to help him. Wocky was dead, and it was my fault he died... I never should have went under to that ship..."

The other pups didn't know what to say, and there was not a dry eye in the room. Everest had her paw over her mouth, still trying to figure out how to comfort someone who had such a violent dream. Rocky was shaking a little, angry at himself and the others for never coming to Zuma to talk about this sooner, but forcing himself to remain calm for his sake.

"Zuma... you know that wasn't your fault, right?" Rocky whispered to him, never letting go. He moved closer and hugged him tight. "It wasn't your fault. I had to save you. I didn't want you to die, either."

"B-But... I... I lost you... evewy nightmawe I had, y-you died! I kept losing you, Wocky, and I... I didn't... know what to do..." Zuma sobbed in his chest. Rocky ignored everyone else in the room and focused on Zuma.

"You did the right thing, telling us. You don't have to hold onto it anymore." Rocky's face was wet with tears. "I don't blame you for anything. I never blamed you for that night, for anything. It wasn't your fault, you understand? If it wasn't for you, we would have failed our mission and lost that baby merpup. You didn't do anything wrong, you hear me? _You did nothing wrong."_

"Then... then why do I feel like I failed?!" Zuma blubbered. "I can't stop it and it huwts and I lost you, Wocky! I did something stupid and you DIED because of me! How is that not bad?!"

Before Rocky could answer, Everest interjected. "Zuma?"

The little pup looked at her. "Rocky's right. There was no way, no way at all, that any of you could have seen that happening. You didn't realize that you were limited, you didn't know that would happen, it was new to you. All of it. Rocky did what he did to save a friend, to save _YOU."_

"I-I know, but-"

"He's here now, right? Rocky's alive and right next to you, right?"

Zuma nodded. She smiled. "Now do me a favor. Close your eyes."

Rocky once again opened his mouth to protest, but as Zuma did as requested, he decided to let her handle it. He didn't know what else he could say, anyways. She looked at Rocky.

"Rocky, can you lay with Zuma for tonight? You can get under your blankets, but don't let him break contact with you."

Rocky was very confused, but did as requested. He laid Zuma down on the pillows first before laying next to him and pulling him as close as they both could manage. Chase helped Everest pull both of their blankets over them.

"Pups, you get under your blankets, too. I think we all need to get some sleep tonight." Everest said, tugging her pillow over to Rocky and Zuma. Marshall let out a yawn as he, Skye, Tracker, Rubble and Chase all laid under their blankets and settled in, curious as to what Everest was going to do, and mostly just tired from all the talking and crying.

"Okay, Zuma. You still awake?" Zuma nodded, but he was starting to grow a little drowsy- just like earlier in his puphouse, Rocky was still warm and soft to sleep against.

"Alright. Then I want you to listen to Rocky for a moment. Listen to his breathing. Do you hear it?"

 _'Has Everest gone insane? Why on earth would she have him do something so weird?'_ Rocky was beginning to realize he needed to stop asking questions and just go with it. He laid his head down and closed his eyes, exhausted.

 _'This was one long night, but... Zuma doesn't feel tense anymore. Whatever Everest was doing, whatever she's doing now... it worked. Zuma finally opened up. In the morning, once we tell Ryder... we can put a rest to that nightmare for good.'_

"Do you hear it?" Everest asked again.

"Y-Yeah... but why do I-"

"What do you hear?" she cut him off.

Zuma listened. It sounded soft whenever Rocky inhaled and exhaled, and his breath smelled like pup treats. "Its... soft. And it makes his chest move when he does it." he said. "But I still don't-"

"You will in a moment. Hold onto that sound. Now, can you hear Rocky's heart beating?"

Zuma nodded again. Even though his ear wasn't against his chest, he could still hear it. It was consistent- a thump-thump-thump on his right side. Loud and strong, pumping blood through him... keeping him healthy and alive.

"Y-Yeah... it's... like a dwum. It's loud... I can hear it, even laying next to him." Zuma mumbled tiredly, yawning. Rocky felt him almost sinking into his side and shifted a little to make room for him. "B-But why am I-"

Everest smiled. "I'll tell you in one minute. Just hold on to both of those things. Now, what does Rocky feel like to you?"

That was easy. "He... he's warm. His fur is soft, too..." Zuma whispered, his eyes started to close. "He's wawm. Really wawm. But I don't undewstand, Evewest. Why... are you asking me this?"

"You have the softness of his breath, and the rising and falling of his chest when he breathes in and out. You have his heartbeat, strong like a drum. He's soft and warm when you lay against him. That's what you think about when you think of Rocky, right?"

"Y-Yeah... but..." Everest placed her paw atop Zuma's head one last time.

"You kept saying that you didn't want that nightmare to be real. You're scared of death and losing Rocky because you feel like you failed him. That's why you tried to ignore or forget about your nightmares. It felt real, didn't it?"

Zuma tried to nod and keep up, but he was exhausted. She saw the tiredness in his eyes, but she also saw relief.

"But this, what you're feeling right now, this is real. This is true. Rocky survived your ordeal, and so did you. You didn't fail anyone, you understand?"

Zuma snuggled closer to Rocky and sleepily nodded. _'She's wight. They'we wight. He's alive. Wocky's wight... hewe.'_

Everest smiled. Zuma definitely looked better, and he'd be able to talk to Ryder in Jake come morning.

"He's here. No blood, no icy water, no dead pup. Just your best friend. And whenever you feel scared and you think that nightmare will come back, just remember tonight. Remember how the real Rocky feels to you."

Everest let out a yawn as she started for her pillow to get some much needed sleep. "And if that doesn't help, come to us. We're here, we're real and we're your friends. You understand?"

Zuma tiredly nodded. Everest checked on the other pups- they were all sleeping now, especially Marshall, who looked like he was having one adventurous dream. She smiled at them. "All of this is real, Zuma. I can't imagine how scary that... death nightmare was. But we're here, and we care about you. Don't let your fear control you."

As Everest headed for her own blanket and pillow, Rocky glanced down at Zuma, who was finally showing signs of forgetting about the nightmare. He was looking more like himself. "We love you, Zuma. It's not often we can be together and say this. I don't know what other nightmares you fought. I don't know why we failed, thinking that you could shake off something so tramatic."

Rocky yawned loudly before he laid down next to Zuma, cofident things would be better between the team. He chuckled as his friend all but curled into him, letting out a breath as he started to drift off. "You have Ryder. You have us. Don't ever hold onto something like this again, okay?"

Zuma's eyes fully closed. The nightmare, while still in his mind, wasn't as strong as it had been the last few nights, or even like the ones he'd had before.

He listened to what Everest told him- he kept the feeling of Rocky in his mind, and slowly but surely, happier memories pushed the nightmare further away.

"I-I love you guys, too... thank you..." Zuma whispered. Within a few minutes, the chocolate lab was finally snoring and asleep. Rocky was relieved. That was finally over and done with. Zuma was going to be okay. He looked at Everest, and smiled apologetically- he really should never have gotten upset at her. She knew what she was doing, and it was thanks to her they were all finally cracking the fearless mystery known as Zuma.

"... Everest... I-I don't know what to say, I-"

"Eh, all is forgiven, Rocky." she said as she yawned again. "And you really should thank Jake."

Rocky arched an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Jake? How come?"

Everest looked thoughtful as she laid her head down. "Before I met him, I used to have a lot of nightmares. Remember what me and Tracker said? About being on our own and having no one to comfort us?"

"Y-Yeah, But-"

"I still plan to tell you the whole thing later. But... to answer your question... I was closed off from people. Until Jake came and introduced me to you guys. It took a long while after that before I was able to tell Jake about my nightmares. He pretty much taught me that little trick I did with Zuma."

"But how did you know it would work?" Rocky was tired, but it was so perplexing how a pup who they barely saw found a way to crack the mystery that was Zuma!

"I didn't." She shrugged. "I just... it was the only-" she let out another yawn- "-thing I could think of. I'm just glad it helped. I really hope Zuma will be okay now."

Rocky smiled in agreement and looked at his slumbering friend. He looked so much more at ease as he slept, probably the first time in a long time. "Yeah. Me too."

Everest lightly smiled at the sight of her closest friends sleeping so easily, now that things were out in the open. "You know something, Rocky?"

"Hunh...?" The mixed pup mumbled sleepily. One eye was already closed and the other was soon to follow.

"Zuma's lucky. To have someone like you to protect him. He's really lucky... that he didn't have to do it all alone..." Rocky was certain she sounded... sad? He was too tired to figure it out.

At almost 6:45 in the morning, all eight pups were finally fast asleep, not one nightmare to be had.

* * *

"So all that was true?" Jake asked as he looked on. He frowned and leaned against the main door's entrance, his arms crossed. "The poor little dude... he must've really been suffering something fierce."

Carlos looked at Ryder. "A-Are you okay, Ryder?" he asked worriedly, not liking the silence from his friend. "I know it took you a lot not to come down, but-"

"I'm okay, Carlos. I'm just... I'm glad the pups had each other's backs." Ryder walked into the main room and checked on his pups. He overheard about a third of the conversation last night- mainly the actual nightmare portion and everything after that- and was saddened that Zuma had kept something so painful away for so long. He felt even worse as he realized he should have checked on Zuma more often- with the way his water rescue pup acted, he never suspected anything was really wrong or that anything was really bothering him.

"Ryder... you know you'll have to tell them sooner or later, right?" Jake mentioned. "About de-"

"I know, Jake." Ryder cut him off abrupty. He sighed heavily; Jake was right. He had to tell his pups, his only family, that no one lives forever. But that could wait; none of his young pups should have went through something that... real. Even Ryder was still shaken up from it, but he had to stay strong for them.

It wasn't like Jake was wrong, it was just not something he wanted to think about himself, let alone talk to his pups about. "I know, it's... just not a good time. Not now." he said softly. "Maybe later on."

"Ryder... " Jake was worried about the kid he'd come to love like a little brother, but knew that this was a subject even he didn't want to touch.

"Don't worry. I understand. I haven't told Everest myself, anyways." He admitted softly, smiling as he looked at his husky pup fast asleep. Being the hyperactive pup she was, even in rest, she was wildly splayed out on her back, one leg kicking the air as she dreamt about something adventurous.

"I know they act like real adults when they're out rescuing people. But they're kids at heart, you know? I don't know what kind of life they had to live before you, but... I don't know, man. I don't know what brought that out of her."

Ryder nodded. "I don't either. But you're right. It's so easy to forget... we're just kids. Zuma should have never had to go through all of that." He sighed. "It's so... hard. But I don't want to talk about that anymore, Jake."

"... no problem, Ryder." Jake quietly respected. He placed Everest's blanket over her, knowing it would kicked off pretty soon after. Carlos looked between his two older brothers before checking on Tracker. Tracker was out cold, curled between Zuma and Everest under his blanket. He looked so young without all his gear on, Carlos thought.

"I guess I should talk to Tracker about all that too, huh?" Carlos asked no one in particular. Jake and Ryder looked at him.

Carlos shrugged, "But I'm only 10, so... I'll wait until I'm 13 and then tell him."

Jake clapped the young boy on the back. "That sounds good, little man." He agreed.

Ryder smiled lovingly at his eight sleeping pups. All were sleeping in a circle- Rocky, Zuma, Tracker, Everest, Chase, Marshall, Rubble and Skye- with Marshall twitching and mumbling nonsense in his sleep, as he tended to do, and Rubble making cute yips as he drempt about food, no doubt in the young boy's mind.

He knelt next to Rocky and Zuma- the two pups were bundled together under both blankets, Zuma appearing to be having a happy dream- at least, judging by the smile on his face. Ryder carefully scratched behind his ear.

"I'm so proud of you, pups. I'm proud of you, Zuma. I'm sorry I failed you as your friend, for not checking on you sooner." Ryder whispered to them. "But I'm proud of you coming together for a fellow member. When you wake up... we'll talk, too. I want to know what happened. And I want you to know I'm here, too."

Jake and Carlos stood by the entrance, waiting for Ryder. Ryder stood up after making sure all the pups were warm and comfortable, and exited the main floor.

"Come on, guys. Let's give them time to sleep. One day won't hurt Adventure Bay. They deserve it, more than anything."

The two definitely agreed to that, and together they headed out to grab some food at Mr. Porter's and some treats for later. Jake kept glancing at Ryder every so often, still concerned about how he was taking those kinds of things.

"...Jake. You want to know what happened that day?" Ryder felt the stares and couldn't help but smile- Jake really was the older brother to them.

"O-oh, I'm sorry little dude! It's just-"

Ryder chuckled and waved it off. "Don't worry. You guys... are really the only ones I trust. So I'll tell you when we get some food, okay?"

Jake and Carlos looked at each other and smiled. "Okay, little dude."

As the three males went to grab breakfast, back at the Lookout, Zuma smiled as he slept on, warm and surrounded by his friends, finally having a good dream after weeks of nightmares.

 **END**

* * *

 **And done! So a bit of an epilogue:**

 **The nightmare thing was based off my boyfriend's cousin's 8 year old daughter. She's very, very prone to night terrors and nightmares, and the last one she had, she apparently dreamt that her father would die from a crash. She kept having this same nightmare for about three weeks until my bf's cousin finally talked to her about it, and comforted her similarly to how I wrote- she's very protective and motherly to her kids, especially when they have nightmares that serious.**

 **I'm a bit mixed about this story overall- I felt that I could have done better, but at the same time, I enjoyed what I did type.**

 **In any case, please leave any thoughts, comments, questions, critiques, but no flames.**

 **Thank you again for reading! Until next time!**


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